CS Santosh’s teammate Joaquim Rodrigues met with a crash midway into the 1st stage of Dakar rally 2018. The rider from Portugal, who finished 12th last year, suffered injuries at his hand and back and will not take part in the remaining stages.
“It is unfortunate that Rodrigues’ race ended early. He met with a crash and suffered injuries in his hand and back. He is all right now but will not further take part in the race,” a team official said.
Rodrigues overshot a sand dune for nearly 10m and his bike landed on top of another dune. He was thrown out of his bike and had to be evacuated from the course. He was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Rodrigues said ” thank you to all my friends and my entire team for all the support and strength given. I’m fine, and I’m coming home soon to finalize my recovery. I’m sorry, my dakar was short this year for lack of luck, but I’ll come back stronger, I promise you!”
