Sainz and Périn retired after accident
As the Dakar Rally resumed following yesterday’s canceled stage, rally leader Carlos Sainz took to the routes of Argentina with a 27-minute lead on his nearest rival, Volkswagen teammate Mark Miller. About 80 kilometers into today’s Fiambala-La Rioja stage, Sainz’s Race Touareg went through a heavy roll and landed on its roof, with the impact causing a shoulder injury to co-driver Michel Périn. Both men were airlifted back to the Fiambola bivouac, where Périn received medical care. The race organizers have confirmed the rally-leading Sainz and Périn have now retired from the event, thereby putting an end to their maiden Dakar victory hopes.
A French television crew was on the scene as the accident happened. It appears the VW crew was caught out when it unexpectedly reached the peak of a high dune, falling over a dozen metres down the slope. The images show Sainz a short distance away, obviously feeling very emotional while Périn is seen laying on his back waiting for medical assistance. How do you tell a former World Rally Champion to slow down? That is the question Périn must be asking himself…
“He’s driving too fast,” Périn said only yesterday. “Now that we have a nearly 30-minute lead, we can manage it.” The navigator’s words seem reasonable, but the suggestion does not seem to have been applied by Carlos Sainz who now sees victory slip through his fingers as if it were Argentinian sand… Following the exclusion of Nasser Al Attiyah’s BMW last week, Sainz had taken the lead of the Dakar Rally, winning six out of the ten stages completed so far.American driver Mark Miller now stands as the new rally leader at the controls of a sister Volkswagen Race Touareg.
In the moments following Carlos Sainz’s and co-driver Michel Périn’s roll earlier today, further accidents were prevented thanks to the former World Rally champion. While Périn was sitting on the ground a few metres away from their lopsided VW Touareg, clenching his teeth at the pain of a broken shoulder blade, Sainz had climbed back to the top of the sand dune with his helmet still on, screaming for the other cars to stop.
Leonid Novitskiy’s BMW and Nani Roma’s Lancer quickly appeared at high speed – thanks to Sainz’s warnings, both narrowly avoided tumbling down the peak. The Russian rapidly steered to the left, while the Spaniard stopped his car only centimeters from the crumbling cliff edge. As we was being cared for on site by medical staff, Périn was furious: “They’re crazy for not having warned about this in the road book! This isn’t normal!”
Sainz was keeping quiet and walking around, but showed visible signs of worry for his co-driver. To a French television crew, the few words he pronounced carried much weight: “If it had not been us, it would have been the BMW or Nani instead.” Over the last week, complaints have been heard in the bivouac regarding the organization of this maiden South America-based Dakar Rally. Today’s event, which caused injuries and ended the chances of the rally leader, will surely bring about further reactions.
Related posts:
- Carlos Sainz in lead again, Giniel de Villiers out
- VW still lead 1,2,3 – Al-Attiyah reduces gap to Sainz
- Nasser Al-Attiyah closes on Carlos Sainz
- Sainz wins prime leg of Silk Way Rally
- Triple lead maintained by VW
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This post was compiled by Memin Pinguin
