After suffering an injury in a recce crash on Tuesday, Carlos Sainz has pulled out of this weekend’s Telstra Rally Australia, which would have been the last event of the Spanish veteran’s career.
After suffering an injury in a recce crash on Tuesday, Carlos Sainz has pulled out of this weekend’s Telstra Rally Australia, which would have been the last event of the Spanish veteran’s career.
Sainz – who holds the record for 26 WRC victories – was involved in a low-speed road crash in the pre-rally recce on Tuesday and was taken to hospital as a precaution. He was expecting to still be able to take part in the rally, but has since been advised that he could risk serious injury if he crashed during the event. According to a report, the Spaniard has a damaged disc in his spine.
El Matador’s accident happened during a note-taking run on the third stage of the event – the 34,99-kilometre Stirling Long test. As he neared the end of the stage, Sainz slid his Group N Mitsubishi Evo recce car off the road and into a tree.
“The accident happened because I was concentrating on the notes, and of course we were driving on really loose gravel,” Sainz said. “In a long and fast left corner I picked the right line and slid the car into the tightening bend. A sudden change of grip launched our car towards the outside where we hit a big tree at around 80 or 90 km/h.”
“I don’t want to take any risks (by competing in the rally),” the Spaniard told the BBC Sport website. “The doctor told me that the slightest impact could have very serious consequences. I didn’t know that Rally Catalunya would be my last rally, but I don’t have any regrets because the party on the Sunday night was beautiful.”
It is not yet known whether his Citroën team will find another driver for this weekend’s event.