Caimi 16th in Stage 4; J Rod crashes out: Dakar 2023
Ha’il (Saudi Arabia) 4 Jan 2023: Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, endured an exceptionally tough day at the Dakar Rally 2023.
Franco Caimi finished Stage 4 in the 16th position, followed by Sebastian Buhler in the 22nd and Ross Branch in the 23rd positions in the Rally GP class. Joaquim Rodrigues met with an unfortunate crash around the 90kms mark, due to which he had to exit from the race.
Living up to its expectation of being “the toughest Dakar so far in Saudi”, Dakar 2023 has been throwing varied challenges to competitors since Day 1. With unusually tall sand dunes and tricky navigation through sandy tracks, Stage 4 was not short of drama.
Joaquim Rodrigues is the latest in the list of top competitors who have exited the Dakar 2023 due to injury. Around the 90km mark today, JRod suffered a fall that rendered him immovable due to a broken left femur. Airlifted to the hospital in Ha’il by the Dakar medical assistance team, JRod will now undergo surgery, and hopes to recover soon.
Seeing his team mate injured was psychologically demanding for Franco Caimi. However, he mustered courage and picked up pace to finish the stage in good time. Franco currently holds the 13th position in the overall Rally GP class standings.
It was an even more difficult day for Sebastian Buhler and Ross Branch, both of whom ran out of fuel in the 250km-long first part of the stage. The rains from the previous day rendered the sandy terrain wet and hard, and their machines battled with technical issues that consumed more fuel than normal.
Both of them had to wait considerable amount of time before receiving help from trailing competitors who lent them fuel to reach the refueling point. However, even with the heavy time losses, they battled on to the finish line, demonstrating the true spirit of Heroes. Undeterred, Ross and Buhler will continue their fight in the race, even though their overall ranks have been adversely affected today.
The entire Hero MotoCorp team wishes a fast recovery for Joaquim and hopes for his speedy return to racing.
