Gonçalves and Monster Energy Honda Team ready to roll in the Morocco Rally

We have arrived at one of the toughest races of the year ahead of the Dakar. Morocco is always a difficult race that tests everyone and if we want to achieve the goal which we think is within reach. It will be crucial not to make any mistakes. That’s why we have been training hard and preparing the race so much recently - so that we get it right.

This will be the last race of the year before the Dakar and I think that after the way things have been going this season, we are here in very good shape. We should be able to take advantage of the chance that has presented itself after the great results achieved in the Atacama and Ruta 40 rallies. However, I think the most important thing is to stay focused to run a race without making any mistakes.

We hope that the Morocco Rally will be good for both me and the team. For my part I will try to continue acquiring more experience in navigation in a rally that I know is both very complicated and demanding. The important thing, more than the final result, will be to finish in one piece and with good sensations before we face the Dakar in the best possible conditions.

The Morocco Rally has been one of the races that I’ve wanted to compete in most over recent years, but because of setbacks I’ve never had the pleasure of doing so. This time I think I'm in a great shape. I think the team's objective will be to play a good role, getting more experience under the belt and continue working on the reliability of the Honda CRF450 RALLY before we finally reach the Dakar.

This Morocco Rally marks the end of our preparation for the Dakar. We will participate with a four-rider set-up to be able to simulate to the maximum what we did in the Ruta 40, so that we can tackle the main event that Monster Energy Honda Team will face in the rally calendar that gets underway in January. We hope to finish with a good result, but rather than just trying to get a good final position, the most important thing for us will be to finish this long "pre-season" without any setbacks for the team while trying to enjoy the event without too much pressure.