Dakar leader Loprais withdraws after tragedy

The Czech driver was leading the truck category on stage nine, but dropped out of the race after learning of a fatality earlier in the day

The 2023 Dakar Rally took a tragic turn on Tuesday’s stage nine, when the overall leader of the truck category, Ales Loprais, withdrew from the event after learning his truck had struck a spectator who had subsequently died.

Both Loprais and his co-driver, Petr Pokora, had completed the 359kg stage from Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, to the industrial town of Haradh to the east, when they were informed of the tragedy by race officials at that night’s bivouac.

The 69-year-old Italian spectator, Livio Sassinotti, had been taking photographs just over the crest of a dune when, earlier that day, he was struck by the #508 InstaForex Loprais Praga truck. The injured man later suffered a cardiac arrest while being transported to hospital.

Race organisers said Loprais was devastated to hear of the tragedy and promptly withdrew from the race, offering his condolences to the man’s friends and family. Loprais is now helping local authorities with their investigations.

Loprais spoke of the incident via a video post on his Facebook page.

“Hello everybody from the night bivouac; I have very sad news,’’ he said. “They told me this when we came back from the ninth stage. We were already in bed but the Dakar stewards came and showed us video footage of an accident from the race, that we hit a man taking photographs behind a dune.

“He was injured and felt nauseous, and after to two to three hours he had a heart attack while being transported to hospital.

“One human life has ended and indirectly it was my fault because I was driving. I have to admit that me or my crew didn’t know about it at all – we’ve got onboards and other videos that prove it, but nothing changes that a human life has ended.

“I would like to express my sincere condolences to the man’s family and friends. I am very sorry and this accident will be with me for the rest of my life.”

After stage 10 of the gruelling desert race, it’s the #502 truck of Boss Machinery Team de Rooy IVECO in the lead in the overall rankings, piloted by Janus van Kasteren and co-driver Darek Rodewald.

In second place, some 22 minutes and 41 seconds adrift, is the #506 truck of Eurol Team de Rooy IVECO, with driver Martin Vandenbrink and co-driver Erik Kofman.

Rounding out the top three is the #501 MM Technology truck of Martin Macik and Frantisek Tomasek.

The 2023 Dakar Rally concludes on Sunday.

Dakar leader Loprais withdraws after tragedy

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