Paulo Goncalves gave a tactical and fighting performance at the penultimate stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The Portuguese brought his Speedbrain 450 Rally bike in an ideal position for tomorrow´s final leg of this opening round of the FIM Cross Country Rally World Championship.The 34-year-old Iberian offroad star began Wednesday´s stage behind Jakub Przygonski. Goncalves rode an error-free race from the beginning, using his proven capabilities to keep the pace of his main rivals Sam Sunderland and Marc Coma. Paulo´s goal was to cross the finish line together with his opponents and - after another hot day out in the Abu Dhabi desert - the experienced desert fox did just that.Paulo Goncalves: "My motto of the day was not to lose time and to stay in very close touch with Marc and Sam. Now I´m able to start tomorrow´s final stage in an ideal position and follow their way. The profile of this stage was like before. Lots of sand and plenty of surfing them. But it is almost unbearably hot out there. Anyway, my bike keeps working very well and I want to secure a top finish tomorrow."Team principal Wolfgang Fischer: "Paulo made the tactical strategy work in an optimal manner. It´s a rather short rally and there´s not much of a gap between the riders, seconds really. The rider starting the final stage in third or fourth position will be able to control the race. It will be a tight affair all the way to the finish line. We wish "Speedy" that Lady Luck will finally be on his side, as he was a little out of fortune in recent races."Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2013Result Leg 4:1. Sunderland (GBR, Honda) 3h54m46s2. Coma-Camps (ESP, KTM) +00:01:363. Ullevalseter (NOR, KTM) +00:02:334. Paulo Goncalves (PRT, Speedbrain) +00:02:375. Przygonski (POL, KTM) + 00:04:42Overall Standings after Leg 4:1. Sunderland (GBR, Honda) 11h16m54s2. Coma-Camps (ESP, KTM) +00:02:533. Paulo Goncalves (PRT, Speedbrain) +00:03:354. Ullevalseter (NOR, KTM) +00:16:195. Przygonski (POL, KTM) +00:20:28Communication speedbrain GmbH -www.speedbrain.de-
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