VIDEO: Serious crash in Dakar Rally! Carlos Sainz flipped his car on its roof, a helicopter had to come to get him

That the Dakar Rally is one of the toughest races on the planet is something that the riders and, in fact, all participants can convince themselves of in every stage, before and after it. And on Tuesday’s stage, Carlos Sainz was also convinced of this, having suffered a serious crash, after which a helicopter even came to pick him up. But the Spanish driver wants to continue in the competition.

Today, Tuesday, January 10, was the ninth stage of the famous Dakar Rally, and the car category aroused great emotions.

Tuesday’s stage was dominated by the French legend Sébastien Loeb in a time of 3 hours, 7 minutes and 24 seconds. The second place was taken by Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala, who finished just 57 seconds behind the nine-time WRC champion.

After the Frenchman’s two-minute penalty was deducted, of course. Loeb and Zala were then joined on the podium by GCK Motorsport’s Guerlain Chicherit, who lost two minutes and eight seconds to first place.

Loeb thus claimed his third stage win of the year and his nineteenth career Dakar Rally victory overall. Mattias Ekstrom brought Audi the consolation of fourth place in Tuesday’s special, five minutes and 11 seconds behind winner Loeb.

Sainz’s nasty crash

Conversely, Sainz, one of the two remaining Audi drivers following Stéphane Peterhansel’s retirement in the opening week, suffered a serious crash just six kilometres into the special when his car overturned while climbing a dune.

Initially, it appeared that the Spanish rider would withdraw from this year’s Dakar. After the crash, he reported severe chest pains and was on his way to hospital. However, Sainz changed his mind halfway through and asked the helicopter pilot to turn around and head back to the heart of the racing action.

As a result, an Audi assistance car subsequently arrived at the scene of the accident and it was expected whether Sainz would finish the ninth stage and salvage at least some result. According to the latest information, the former WRC driver does not want to end his involvement in this year’s Dakar.

However, after Monday’s off day, he was already up to 100th place in the car category standings after a previous serious accident, more than 29 hours behind leader Nasser al-Attiyah.

The Qatari then dominates the car category with a time of 34 hours, 19 minutes and 20 seconds, with Lucas Moraes in second place with a loss of one hour and 21 minutes. Frenchman Loeb climbed to third place after Tuesday’s stage with a current deficit of one hour and 43 minutes.

Sources:: Dakar Rally, Twitter – Sébastien Loeb