Stefan Peterhansel, 57, will not register his name for the fifteenth time (motorcycle and car combined) on the track record of the Dakar, which traverses the sands of Saudi Arabia. The French rider had an accident in his hybrid Audi at 212 km of the 6th special stage, when he was in the lead on the section between Grad and Near (560 km, including 358 specials).
The record holder for victories had nothing but the fact that his co-driver Edouard Boulanger suffered from back pain. “He was taken by the Dakar medical service to the Buraida hospital for additional examinations,” the organizers of the rally-raid explained.
Before retiring, the Audi team was second overall, 22 minutes behind Nasser al-Attiyah (Toyota). Spaniard Carlos Sainz, also driving an Audi, had an accident at the same location and was waiting to have his car repaired to restart the race.
The sixth stage was interrupted due to heavy rain this week in Saudi Arabia. Due to weather conditions making the al-Duwadimi camp, where the finish was originally planned, inaccessible, the provisional section was shortened by 100 km in order to finish the stage in Riyadh.
Source: Le Parisien
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