The Kamaz Master team has released footage which shows the moment when one of its trucks ran over and broke a spectator’s leg during Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally.
Incident starts at 5:03s.
The #518 entry, driven by Andrey Karginov, has been excluded from the event for failing to stop and attend to the spectator, who was standing in an unauthorised area.
Team boss Vladimir Chagin disagreed with the decision, arguing that Karginov would not have even known that he had hit the spectator.
“There’s a lot spectators on the route, and in the most difficult parts there’s always particularly many of them, spread out in various groups,” observed Chagin.
“As he was driving up one of the ascents, there was a group of five spectators in the path of the truck. Four managed to clear off but one tripped in the sand and his leg was caught under the rear wheel of the truck.
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“Andrey naturally didn’t see this – it was an ascent and all you can see through the windshield is the sky and the top of the mountain – so he only found out about the accident upon arriving to the bivouac.
“It was investigated by the commissioners and, much to our surprise, the organisers made the very harsh decision to disqualify the crew.
“We’re very surprised by the decision, but we can’t protest it here, only after the race has wrapped up.
“So we have to accept it and continue with three crews.”
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