2023 Dakar: Sunderland airlifted after big crash

Britain’s Sam Sunderland has been airlifted out of the 2023 Dakar Rally following a big crash on stage one.

Leading the special briefly before the incident, the Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing star was airlifted to hospital in Yanbu where he was diagnosed with a broken shoulder blade.

“Unfortunately, Sam crashed out of the race today after hitting a rock around 52 kilometers into the opening stage. He’s broken his shoulder blade and has a concussion so his time here at the Dakar is sadly over,” said team boss Norbert Stadlbauer.

“It’s such a shame that this has happened as I know he had high hopes of making it back-to-back wins and we are lucky that he was not more seriously injured. It’s disappointing for sure but this is how racing goes sometimes.”