Paulo Gonçalves (; 5 February 1979 – 12 January 2020) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

rally racing Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally A pep rally or pep assembly is a gathering of people, typically students ...

motorcycle rider. He won the

FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship was the premier championship of Rally raid racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), from 1999 to 2021 (from 1999 and 2002 as World Cup). Asides the main championsh ...

in 2013.

Early life

Gonçalves was born on 5 February 1979, in Gemeses, a civil parish in the

Braga District The district of Braga ( pt, Distrito de Braga ) is a district in the northwest of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Braga, and it is bordered by the district of Viana do Castelo in the north, Vila Real in the east, Spain ( Galicia) ...

city of

Esposende Esposende () is a city and a municipality in Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 34,254, in an area of 95.41 km². The city itself (the parish Esposende, Marinhas e Gandra) had a population of 9,197 in 2001. It gained city ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Rally biking

Gonçalves won 23 titles in motocross, supercross and enduro, and won the

in 2013, before being a runner-up in 2014. He started participating in the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

in 2006, and participated in thirteen of them. He raced on African, South American and Asian continents and won three stages. He finished among the top ten competitors, and was the runner-up in 2015,

Marc Coma Marc Coma i Camps (born 7 October 1976) is a Spanish rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the Dakar Rally in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015 riding a KTM motorcycle, and is also a six-time winner of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion ...

being the only competitor ahead of him. Between 2006 and 2009, and also from 2013 to 2019, Gonçalves raced for the

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

team in the Dakar Rally, before moving to the

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it has ...

team in 2020. From 2010 to 2012 he was with the BMW-owned

Husqvarna Motorcycles Husqvarna Motorcycles GmbH (; marketed as Husqvarna) is a Swedish-origin Austrian company which designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes motocross, enduro, supermoto and street motorcycles. The company began producing motorcycles in 19 ...

team outfit. He was also a member of the

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

team during his career. During the 2020 edition of the Dakar rally the engine stalled in the third stage, and its withdrawal was announced, which was corrected about three hours later, as Gonçalves was trying to repair his vehicle at the same time as he was waiting for his team to arrive for assistance. Due to his taste for high speeds, he was nicknamed "Speedy", which was a reference to the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' character

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...

Death and tributes

Gonçalves crashed during the seventh stage of the

2020 Dakar Rally The 2020 Dakar Rally was the 42nd edition of the event and the first edition held in Saudi Arabia. The event started in Jeddah on 5 January and finished in Al-Qiddiya on 17 January after 12 stages of the competition. This was also the first eve ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, at 276 km. He was found unconscious, resuscitated at the scene, and then flown by helicopter to a hospital in Layla, where he was pronounced dead. He was less than a month away from his 41st birthday. After his death, the municipality of Esposende issued a note of regret, highlighting his career as a racer, and regarded him as an Esposende ambassador to the world. His death was also mourned by the President of Portugal,

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the List of presidents of Portugal, 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democrati ...

, who stated that Gonçalves "died trying to achieve the dream of winning one of the hardest and most dangerous rally events in the world, in which he was always a worthy representative of Portugal, reaching second place in 2015".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goncalves, Paulo 1979 births 2020 deaths Portuguese motorcycle racers Enduro riders People from Esposende Off-road motorcycle racers Dakar Rally motorcyclists Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Saudi Arabia Sportspeople from Braga District