Goncalves leads at midway point despite Meo victory- Dakar Rally 2016

Riding for the Red Bull KTM Factory team, the Frenchman Antoine Meo took stage eight by a minute and fifty three seconds over the Argentine Benavides.

Goncalves finished third in the stage just the three seconds behind Benavides, with a time of 1 minute 56 seconds behind the leader Meo.

Despite this, Goncalves still retains his overall lead of 3 minutes 12 seconds over the Australian Toby Price. In third sits Stefan Svitko of Slovakia, 9 minutes and 24 seconds behind Goncalves.

The stage of Uyuni - Salta ran over the Bolivia-Argentina border, with riders at times competing on harsh terrain over 1,000 meters above sea level. The annual event finishes up on January 16th.