Dakar competitor crashes out before event even starts

Kolomy – who usually competes in the Truck class and is teammate to former WRC competitor Martin Prokop – rolled his Ford end-over-end in the sand dunes during a shakedown run. The car landed back on its wheels after a series of rollovers, with its nose wedged firmly against a dune.

One of the medical helicopters from the Rally’s organisers quickly arrived at the scene of the crash. They airlifted Kolomy, immobilized on a stretcher, directly to hospital after he complained about back pain. Co-driver Jirka Stross was also transferred there for a check-up.

Kolomy tweeted from hospital: “Compressed 3rd vertebra and 2nd cracked. Now they’re wondering what to do with me! But I’ll be fine. Thanks to everyone for the support messages... they make it a lot better.”

Prokop said of the incident: “It was one of the more treacherous places on Dakar, but they don't look so dangerous from the outside: Long straight and [a] jump at the end. The video I saw, [the car] seemed to slow down a bit and then jumped right on the nose.”