Wadi ad-Dawasir (Saudi Arabia) (AFP)

The Dakar rally was mourned Sunday by the death of the Portuguese biker Paulo Gonçalves, 40, victim of a fall in the seventh stage, won by the Spanish Carlos Sainz. It is the 25th death of a driver in the history of the rally.

Gonçalves, second in the 2015 edition, was an experienced driver, recognized as a figure in the caravan and who was competing in his thirteenth Dakar this year. He fell at km 276 of the special that linked Ryad to the city of Wadi Ad-Dawasir in southwest Saudi Arabia.

The organizers explained that the Portuguese was in cardio-respiratory arrest when the medical team arrived. After an attempt at resuscitation which lasted nearly thirty minutes, he was transported by helicopter to the hospital, where his death was recorded.

"It's the whole Dakar that is in mourning, it's very sad and it's difficult to live with," reacted Luc Alphand, winner of the Dakar in a car in 2006. The former skier, who was following the stage by helicopter , was among the first on the scene. "We landed but Paulo was already unconscious. The doctor arrived very quickly and we tried to do massages," he said.

- Ripples -

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who is participating in his first Dakar, also said he saw helicopters for medical assistance during the race. "We just learned at the end of the stage that it was bad news. It is difficult to talk about the stage because it is very moving, there is not much to say", declared the double world champion of Formula 1.

In photos taken a few moments after the accident, we see the pilot lying in the middle of a large expanse of sand, his motorcycle a few meters away, while rescue workers and other pilots are busy around him.

According to them, the accident took place on a flat sector where the terrain showed undulations, which had been reported on the road-book.

It was the Australian biker Toby Price who was riding behind Gonçalves, who found the pilot on the ground, revealed Dakar boss David Castera. The defending champion stayed with the Portuguese for a long time, as did the Slovak Stefan Svitko.

"He's an experienced guy Paulo, whom we've known for years," reacted Stéphane Peterhansel on his return to the bivouac. "He's a strong, willful guy. You have to be sad for your family."

- "We play with fire" -

The Portuguese, crowned world champion in all-terrain rallying in 2013, had made his rally debut in 2006, when the race was taking place in Africa, and had finished four times in the top 10.

After having broken his engine in the third stage, he occupied 46th place in the general classification after the sixth special.

Since the rally was created in 1979, 25 competitors have died, including 20 bikers, a figure testifying to the dangerousness of this category, where the drivers sometimes reach breakneck speeds. The last death of a pilot, Pole Michal Hernik, dates back to the 2015 edition in Argentina.

"I always felt it on a motorcycle that we play with fire. I stopped my motorcycle career very young and I saw friends killing themselves in front of me," testified Peterhansel, thirteen Dakar titles on the clock , including six on motorbikes.

"We all know that riding a motorcycle is dangerous," added David Castera. "You leave in the morning, you sometimes have a lump in your stomach because we have no protection, we have nothing".

Gonçalves, pilot of the Hero team, had been able to start the Dakar just after having suffered an accident which had caused him to fracture his spleen last December. "For me, being at the start is already a victory," he said.

A tribute will be paid to him in the evening on the bivouac.

This seventh stage, the longest of this Dakar (546 km of selective section), was won by Carlos Sainz (Mini), who signs his third stage victory. The Spaniard, double winner of the event, thus increased his lead over his main pursuer, the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyha (Toyota), defending champion, now pushed back to ten minutes.

© 2020 AFP