Carlos Sainz’s father, Carlos Sainz Snr, made a U-turn and ordered a helicopter to turn back while he was being taken to hospital following a crash at the Dakar Rally. The Spaniard rolled his Audi RS Q e-tron buggy after jumping awkwardly over a sand dune.
However, minutes later officials confirmed Sainz had decided to abandon medical treatment to return to the rally. It means Sainz can still be classified as finishing the event even though his hopes of victory have evaporated.
They added: “New episode in the @CSainz_oficial saga on stage 9: the Spaniard asked the medical helicopter on its way to the hospital to turn back and take him to his car. He is now back with Lucas Cruz waiting for their assistance vehicle.”
It’s Sainz’s second accident of the Dakar Rally with his last drama coming just days ago. Last Friday, the former WRC legend damaged his Audi after following Stephane Peterhansel through dunes.
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Aerial footage appeared to show Sainz and Cruz desperately trying to fix their car in an attempt to restart. The crash had already ruined his chances of winning the Rally after losing more than eight hours.
After the collision, Sainz said: “Stephane (Peterhansel) had caught us, I was right behind him, following him very closely. The only thing I have seen has been to blow up his car and I fly after. When we landed we broke the suspension and Edouard (Peterhansel’s co-driver) broke something in his spine.”
The rally star was also cautioned over the weekend after his Ferrari F1 driver son, Carlos Sainz, closed the door of his Audi ahead of the third stage. This should have been done by a member of the Audi Sport crew instead of an outsider.
But, the stewarts ultimately took no further action against the incident as it was “not an initiative of the team”.
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