Stage one winner, Monster Energy Honda Team rider Paulo Gon̤alves, started the stage that set off from BelÌ©n. The Portuguese ace performed well on the stage and with some neat riding and navigation skills managed to minimize the handicap of having to start from the front, while leaving tracks for his adversaries to follow. By the time Paulo had arrived at Tinogasta, he had scored the fourth fastest time of the day and had conceded just seven minutes to the eventual stage winner. Goncalves now occupies this same position in the general standings, some 2‰Ûª25 off the leader.
"Today was one of the hardest stages I've had in my entire life," Gon̤alves expressed. "320 kilometres practically everything off-piste, with dry rivers and very broken up track. I did pretty well with the navigation, there were stretches of 20 or 30 kilometres of the course, without waypoints. I did quite well, opening the track and also managed to reach the finish line first. I‰Ûªm a little sad about Mathias‰Ûª fall, but I hope it is not very serious and he will be able to get over it soon."
Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino rounded out the top five.
The 336.45km third stage of the rally includes a 258.78km timed special ‰ÛÒ the second shortest of the event ‰ÛÒ in a loop north of the city of Tinogasta.
