A Portuguese double dominated the 4th stage of the Dakar2016 today, with the victory of Paulo Gonçalves (Honda) and the 2nd place of Ruben Faria (Husqvarna), with the 3rd place going to the Argentine Kevin Benavides (Honda).
Gonçalves benefited from a 5-minute penalty imposed on the Spaniard Joan Barreda, his teammate, who had even been the fastest of the day.
In a stage starting and finishing in Jujuy, Argentina, Barreda completed the 429-kilometer special in 4:05.30 hours, that is, 1.49 minutes faster than Paulo Gonçalves, while also Portuguese Ruben Faria (Husqvarna) was third, at 4.24, but the Spaniard was again penalized for speeding, as on Tuesday, this time in five minutes.
With this victory in the first marathon stage of this edition of the most famous off-road rally in the world, the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves jumped to command the general classification.
As for the Algarvian Ruben Faria, the second position in today's stage allowed him to climb three places in general, being now 5th.
“It was my first marathon stage, on a fast opening day. I rolled close to Benavides before the refueling stop, but then I made a slight mistake within the speed-controlled area and lost some time. I attacked to buy time and, in the end, I wasn't far behind. It was a good day and it was crucial to bring the bike back in one piece. I'm happy for me and for Honda”, commented Paulo Gonçalves, at the end of the stage.
With regard to the rest of the Portuguese, Hélder Rodrigues (Yamaha) was 15th in this take, Mário Patrão 31st and Pedro Bianchi Prata was 50th. In General, Rodrigues is 14th, Patrão is up to 29th and Bianchi Prata 55th.
Tomorrow the 5th stage will be played, the second in a marathon, linking Jujuy to Uyuni, already in Bolivia.
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