Dakar 2017: Stage Four. Price crashes out

Toby Price has been helicoptered to hospital with a broken femur and will take no further part in the 2017 Dakar.

Update: Honda’s Joan Bort Barreda has copped a one-penalty for refuelling in a prohibited zone. He drops to ninth over all. Quintanilla now holds the outright lead.

Update: Rod Faggotter okay! From Rod’s wife Cherie on Facebook: “Just heard from the man himself after an agonising 3.5 hours for me!It was mechanical, I don’t know the specifics (the line was hard to hear him ) but it has to do with the engine and Rod was unable to fix it.Unfortunately it’s with a heavy heart that I let you all know that he’s out for the rest of the race.

Thank you again for everyone’s support and encouragement for him, it means the world to me as his wife, that he has people out there that believe in him like I do.

Keep your eyes peeled on the race for Todd Smith and Matt Hart our only Aussies left in the race and doing a fantastic job.
Thoughts are with Toby Price and his family again , I can only imagine the disappointment they must be feeling.

Thanks again
Cherie.”
Update: Fox Sports reports:“The reigning champion crashed heavily at 90km/h late in Stage 4 of the event, from San Salvador de Jujuy to Tupiza, while leading the stage.Rally organisers reported that the Australian was airlifted to hospital with a broken left femur.The crash happened with just 45 kilometres of the 416km test remaining, just after a neutralised section of the stage which saw the rally pass into Bolivia.”
Update: Rod Faggotter DNF as well. No information available yet.

Aussie Malle Moto legend Matt Hart’s Stage Three get-off…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9LXeocgoco

The stage win went to Matthias Walkner, and the overall lead is now with Joan Barreda Bort.

We’ll post details of the day’s racing as they become available.

Provisional standings after Stage 4

BARREDA, Bort Joan (ESP)
QUINTANILLA, Pablo (CHL) +18:19
WALKNER, Matthias (AUT) +20:26
SVITKO, Stefan (SVK) +24:11
SUNDERLAND, Sam (GBR) +24:3
FARRES, Guell Gerard (ESP) +30:21
DE SOULTRAT, Xavier (FRA) +30:57
BRABEC, Ricky (USA) +31:50
VAN BEVEREN, Adrien (FRA) +33:09
RENET, Pierre Alexandre (FRA) +33:32
21.SMITH, Todd (AUS) +01hour:37m:20s
46. HART, Matthew (AUS) +02hour:59m:24s

Rod Faggotter isn’t appearing on the results yet either.

Quote from Price’s teammate Matthias Walkner:

“If we are fair, we have to say that the others started first and I started eleventh. I had it much easier because I could see more tracks. Actually, at the beginning I didn’t feel so good because the navigation was still tricky, many riders got lost and there were tracks everywhere. After 100 km, I felt pretty good on the bike, but I didn’t think it was enough for victory. It’s not so bad, but the bad thing is that Toby crashed. I hope he is more or less ok. I stopped with him and then they showed me that it was over for him. Health is the most important thing and I hope that he’s ok. Of course, I’m happy to finish first, but I hope he’s ok. We’re not even half way there and the finish is so far away. After ten days more maybe we can speak about victory, because with the three minute gap it changes so fast, like yesterday when Joan was ten minutes in front of everybody. There’s a really long way to go”.