Martin Kolomy has been hospitalised with a fractured vertebrae following a shakedown accident ahead of this year’s edition of the Dakar Rally.

Pre-event testing and checks are underway in Saudi Arabia ahead of this year’s event, which begins in Jeddah on Sunday.

However, Kolomy and co-driver Jirka Stross became a pre-event scratching after they were transferred to hospital following an end-over-end roll in their Ford Raptor.

Though attended to at the scene, the pair were transferred to hospital for checks with Kolomy diagnosed with a compressed third vertebrae and cracked second.

Hailing from the Czech Republic, the duo were set to compete in the Cars class of the event, Kolomy having campaigned a truck since 2010 claiming two stage wins.

Sunday’s opening stage runs from Jeddah to Al Wajh, a 752 kilometre journey with 319 kilometres of competition.

Prasklý 3. obratel a 2. naprasklý 🙈 Teď přemýšlejí co se mnou 👍 Ale budu v pořádku 💪 Díky všem za podpůrné zprávy… ty to výrazně vylepšují 😊 pic.twitter.com/3nlBYSYMw7

— Martin Kolomý Racing (@KolomyRacing) January 2, 2020