Joan Barreda Bort is the latest big-name rider to crash out of the Dakar Rally, early on Stage 9.
The Honda rider, competing under his own ‘Monster Energy JB Team’ banner but with factory support, went down just 16km into the first special after the rest day.
According to official event tracking, he is suffering back pain and has been airlifted to hospital in Riyadh.
Barreda Bort won Stage 4 and had sat eighth overall, 7:21s off the pace, before the start of the ongoing stage which runs between Riyadh and Haradh.
Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price is the virtual overall leader having set the fastest time to the refuel point at 163km into the special.
Already, two champions have crashed out, namely Red Bull GasGas’s Sam Sunderland on Stage 1 and Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec on Stage 3.
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The former broke a shoulder blade while the latter was cleared of serious injury after concerns about his neck.
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