Breaking news
Dakar Dakar
Dakar trucks frontrunner excluded after spectator collision
Kamaz driver Andrey Karginov was disqualified from the 2019 Dakar Rally after an incident with a spectator on the fifth stage of the marathon.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Published: Jan 12, 2019, 9:13 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
A 60-year-old South African man, stood within a group of five outside one of the stage's designated spectator zones, was hit by Karginov's truck, which drove over his left leg with its left rear wheel.
A statement from rally organisers ASO said the spectator sustained a broken femur and was swiftly transported to a hospital in Arequipa.
“The competitor was excluded from the rally by the jury of commissioners for not stopping to attend the injured spectator,” the statement also said.
Karginov, whose crew is made up of mechanic Igor Leonov and navigator Andrey Mokeev, won the Dakar Rally in the truck class in 2014.
He sat out the event last year, competing in the Africa Eco Race instead, but was brought back into Kamaz's four-truck line-up for the 2019 Dakar.
Karginov won two of the five stages of the current event, and was sat in third place overall behind fellow Kamaz drivers Eduard Nikolaev and Dmitry Sotnikov.
Kamaz team boss Vladimir Chagin, himself a seven-time Dakar winner, described the decision to exclude Karginov as “very harsh".
He said the driver was not aware he had hit a spectator until after arriving to the Arequipa bivouac at the conclusion of the stage.
“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,” Chagin said.
“As he [Karginov] 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.
“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.”
Footage of the incident
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Dakar 2019, Stage 5: Loeb dominates longest test
Next article Loeb's co-driver enraged by Dakar roadbook inaccuracies
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
Mar 13, 2020
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Mar 12, 2020
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General Mar 11, 2020
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Andrey Karginov
Kamaz scores Dakar 1-2 led by Karginov
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Jan 17, 2020
Kamaz scores Dakar 1-2 led by Karginov
Dakar 2016 runners and riders: Cars and Trucks
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar 2016
Jan 2, 2016
Dakar 2016 runners and riders: Cars and Trucks
Red Bull Desert Wings await Dakar starting pistol
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar 2016
Jan 2, 2016
Red Bull Desert Wings await Dakar starting pistol
Latest news
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
2 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 6 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe