MADRID, 10 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish motorcycle driver Joan Barreda had to leave the 2023 Dakar Rally this Tuesday due to a new fall, this time very hard and at the beginning of the ninth stage -between Riyadh and Haradh over 358 kilometers of special-, which forced him to to be transferred by helicopter to a hospital in the Saudi capital.
Barreda, who was looking for the stage victory to gain time and positions ahead of the arrival of the pure desert of the ‘Empty Quartar’ starting this Wednesday, had an accident at kilometer 16 and, after falling flat on his face, he noticed pain in back and was taken to a hospital.
The man from Torreblanca, in his 13th Dakar, runs out of title options in what, according to what he told Mundo Deportivo, could be his last Dakar Rally. At the start of this special, he was eighth, 7:21 minutes behind the leader Skyler Howes.
The stage was won by the Argentine Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) -in his second partial victory so far- with a 1:02 minute margin over the Australian Toby Price (KTM) and 2:57 over the American Skyler Howes (Husqvarna).
Howes remains the overall leader, but with just 3 seconds ahead of Price, who is hot on his heels. Third is the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM), at 5:09, while Adrien van Beveren (Honda) is already far from the race at 15:40 minutes.