Sainz sr. sustains two broken vertebrae from heavy crash in Dakar
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Carlos Sainz senior had to abandon his participation in the Dakar Rally after a serious crash. His car had been damaged beyond repair, but it now appears that Sainz sr. did not get away unscathed either.
During the ninth stage of the Dakar, Sainz sr. lost control of his car. The Spaniard had to wait with his teammate for assistance to repair the car, but Sainz sr. was taken to hospital in pain.
However, the Dakar driver had the medical helicopter turned around to return to his car. In the end, Sainz was still unable to continue his journey as the damage to the car was too severe to be repaired. So the Spaniard had to abandon his participation after all.
Two broken vertebrae after Dakar incident
On Twitter Sainz has since revealed that he has been to hospital for another check-up because of the persistent pain in his back. The former Dakar winner is left with two broken vertebrae from the incident.
"On my return to Madrid from the Dakar Rally, the back pain I suffered after the incident of this year’s event persisted longer than usual. Following medical advice, I underwent further checks to assess in detail the extent of the injury. Unfortunately, the results haven’t brought good news because I fractured the T5 and T6 vertebrae. The good thing is that both vertebrae are stable and from this day on my priority will be to recover as soon as possible", Sainz writes.