(Reuters) -Carlos Sainz’s Dakar Rally ended on Monday after the defending champion’s damaged Ford Raptor was ruled out after just two stages of the gruelling two-week race in the Saudi Arabian desert.
The 62-year-old Spaniard, who won with Audi last year, flipped his car upside down in the dunes on Sunday and FIA stewards ruled out further involvement after post-stage checks showed damage to the safety cage.
“With great sadness, we have to say goodbye to the Dakar this year,” the four-times winner and father of Formula One driver Carlos Sainz Jr. posted on X.
“That’s racing, sometimes you have to face its toughest moments. Soon we’ll head back home to recover both physically and mentally,” he added.
The rally ends on Jan. 17.
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi was declared the winner of the 48-hour Chrono stage, despite a two-minute penalty for speeding, in a non-works Overdrive Toyota but the victory was later handed to team mate Rokas Baciuska.
Organisers credited the Lithuanian with time lost as a result of a refuelling delay that was no fault of the crew.
South African Henk Lategan took the overall lead for the factory Toyota team, four minutes and 45 seconds ahead of Al-Rajhi with five-times winner Nasser Al-Attiyah in third place for Dacia.
“Towards the end of the really long dunes section, I got sick, had to stop and get out of the car for a bit,” said Lategan.
“After the dunes cleared, I started enjoying it a bit again.
“It’s actually a big surprise to be first because we haven’t been really focusing on it. But I’m happy with that. We’ve been playing a more strategic game over these two days.”
Australian Toby Price and Britain’s Sam Sunderland, both double winners in the motorcycle category and now team mates on four wheels, moved up to fourth overall with Overdrive Racing.
Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb staged an impressive recovery from lost time due to engine fan problems on Sunday and was in sixth place for Dacia and nearly 19 minutes off the lead. Ford’s Mattias Ekstroem was fifth.
In the motorcycle category, Australian Daniel Sanders took his third consecutive stage win to take a 12-and-a-half minute lead over American Skyler Howes with Botswana’s Ross Branch third.
Defending champion Ricky Brabec of the United States was in fifth place, 15 minutes behind Sanders.
Tuesday’s 495-km third stage is from the south-west town of Bisha northwards to Al-Henakiyah.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge and Clare Fallon)
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