Carlos Sainz had a huge accident during yesterday’s Dakar stage. The 2010 rally winner rolled his Peugeot 2008 DKR after colliding with a bank on the inside of a corner. The car rolled down a ravine after narrowly missing two spectators.
The accident may have looked spectacular but Sainz did manage to finish the stage, eventually. The collision meant he had to wait for assistance before he could continue and lost over two hours to Cyril Despres who won the stage. Even though he was able to finish, the delay meant that Sainz had no chance of winning and has now officially retired from the rally.
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Despite the severity of the accident it appears that no spectators were actually harmed in the accident.
Sainz was pushing hard to make up time after a ten minute delay at the start of the stage because of navigation issues. He said the extra risks he took to compensate for the initial delay are what caused the accident.
He's not the only big name to retire from the Dakar this year. Two-time winner Nasser al-Attiyah, who was leading the rally, pulled out after his Toyota fell into a hole tearing off one of the rear wheels. The accident lost him over two hours, again, enough to erase his hopes of a win.
Sainz’s teammate, Sebastien Loeb remains in the rally, though, and after winning the second stage he is still able to fight for an overall win.
