Carlos Sainz and Joan Barreda say goodbye to the Dakar

Carlos Sainz overturned his Audi in the initial kilometers of the ninth stage and, after a strong impact, had to permanently abandon the Dakar Rally.

The rider from Madrid was not the one who took the worst part, since Joan Barreda also said goodbye after adding another fall.

The man from Castellón had to be taken to the hospital in Riyadh after falling into an area of ​​intertwined dunes at km 16 of the ninth timed section heading towards Haradh.

He left the test when he was eighth in the general classification, seven minutes behind the leader.

The condition of the 39-year-old pilot is not serious.

Barreda had back pain when the medical teams decided to transfer him by medicalized helicopter, on a stretcher and immobilized, to be examined in depth.

The final diagnosis: a fracture of the L2 vertebra, in the lower back, in what may be his last participation in the rally.

❌ @joanbangbang88 has fallen after 16 km.

Due to back pains, he has been airlifted to hospital in Riyadh.

🏥#Dakar2023 pic.twitter.com/DrUFfzsl5b

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 10, 2023

It was the fourth incident for Barreda in this 2023 edition. His misfortune began in the second stage, when he hit his left foot on a rock and ended up with a broken big toe.

In the fifth, Toby Price (KTM) collided with him from behind after a fall and ran over his head with his front wheel, in an accident where he lost consciousness for a few minutes, although he was then miraculously able to resume walking.

In the eighth stage he had another accident without consequences, despite the fact that he was thrown and somersaulted in the air after running his Honda on a sandbar.

The Torreblanca rider, who was living his 13th Dakar, is the third rider with the most stage victories, a total of 29 after having won the fourth timed trial of this edition.

Barreda was looking to equal the record 33 wins of Stéphane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres on two wheels.

In his history, he accumulates six withdrawals and two fifth places (2017 and 2022) as the best position in the general.

Last year, the driver completed the rally with a broken clavicle and pelvis, while in the 2021 edition he had to leave after becoming disoriented as a result of brain trauma.

Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) achieved his second stage victory with a time of 3h18m44s ahead of Price, who is second in the general classification, just three seconds behind the leader, the American Skyler Howes (Husqvarna).

Kevin Benavides, the winner's older brother, is third in the table at 5m09s, after a special that has better selected the group of favorites and has placed Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) from Salamanca in tenth position overall (+40m38s).

The German-born Valencian Tosha Schareina (GasGas), in his second participation, is 15th, 1h25m28s behind the leader.

Sainz has an accident and turns the medical helicopter around, but ends up abandoning

The Madrid driver from Audi suffered a mishap as soon as the ninth car special began.

At km 6, in a dune area similar to the one where Barreda fell, he capsized and again lost his chances of winning the stage, the only goal he had left after losing his chances in the general classification.

At first, Sainz wanted to wait for the assistance truck to try to resume the march, but persistent discomfort in the thoracic area made him decide to request the medical helicopter to go to the Riyadh hospital for inspection.

🎥 First footage of @CSainz_oficial and @LucasCruz74's crash, after only 6km in the special.

🚗#Dakar2023 pic.twitter.com/se7SKV27YD

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 10, 2023

Halfway through the flight, the 60-year-old pilot changed his mind.

The helicopter had to land to correctly locate the coordinates of the hospital, and he took advantage of it and asked to be returned to his vehicle to resume the march and not give up participating.

Lucas Cruz, his co-pilot, was incredulous from the scene of the accident.

Between them and some people from the public they managed to put their car on so they could continue in the race and reach the bivouac.

When a driver is taken to the hospital, he automatically quits the race.

In his case, by not having reached the medical center, he avoided activating this clause of the regulation and therefore was able to continue to Haradh.

Carlos Sainz, and his co-driver, Lucas Cruz, inspect their vehicle after an accident suffered during today's stage. FRANCK FIFE (AFP)

Once there, after a medical examination and a session with the physiotherapist, both he and Cruz were declared fit to compete.

The definitive problem, which forces him to leave once and for all, was confirmed somewhat later.

Audi announced that the car cannot continue in the race due to structural damage to the vehicle's carbon chassis.

“It can't be fixed, and it's a shame because we wanted to continue learning and try to win a stage,” he commented.

In an incident-plagued restart of the event, Frenchman Sébastien Loeb arrived late at the initial checkpoint - he was penalized 2m10s overall - but set the best pace of the day to win his third stage of the rally.

With a time of 3h05m14s, he scratched 11m08s from a conservative Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) and is third overall, 1h43m08s behind the Qatari.

A breakdown of his teammate, the South African Henk Lategan, places the rookie Lucas Moraes, a 32-year-old Brazilian, in second position in the test.

"We would need six months to catch up with Nasser," the Frenchman resigned, accused by his rival of arriving late on purpose to avoid being the first car to hit the dunes.

The day ended with the sad news of the death of an Italian spectator who was behind a dune when he suffered an accident on the rally track.

Despite the fact that he was evacuated by helicopter, he died during the transfer to the hospital, according to the organization, which does not share more details.

Since 1979 there have been 77 deaths in the rally, 46 of them non-competitors.

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