czech rider Alesh Loprais and his crew are not responsible for the death of a fan who fell under their car during the Dakar Rally marathon, the KAMAZ-master team driver told Andrei Karginov .
Loprais on Tuesday, in his Praga, rammed a spectator who was in the way of a multi-tonne car and out of sight of the crew at number 508. The Italian fan was sent to hospital, but died during the evacuation. Earlier, Loprais expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. Dakar organizers and local authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. Loprais, who was in first place in the general truck classification, withdrew from the race.
“Unfortunately, there was a serious incident in the Dakar which cost a human life. In place of Loprais, any runner could have been – the fan stood in the channel, where he should not have been. I have a hard time understanding how he ended up there, maybe he wanted to take a nice picture on the phone.
There is no fault of the crew in the tragedy. It’s a terrible moment. When I read the news, I immediately remembered the 2019 Dakar, where our crew found themselves in a similar situation. Fortunately, the spectator was not seriously injured – he broke his leg. Of course, people should be made aware of the danger of being near the track, which is not limited to car tracks – racers often blaze a new path, and spectators should be extremely careful not to endanger their own life and that of others.
I hope this incident will not affect Loprais’ career, that time will pass and he will be able to resume racing. In the Dakar, he was the leader, he had every chance of winning the rally for the first time. I don’t know if there will be a disqualification from the organizers, but humanly Alesh did the right thing by withdrawing from the competition, Karginov told .
– Are you able to fully follow the Dakar?
“Of course we are. I’m not worried about anyone, I have no favourites. On the one hand, new leaders have appeared in the race, the teams have hope for the podium. On the one hand other side, I want to be there, participate and fight for the high places, I’m sure that KAMAZ-master will definitely come back to Dakar.
Source : MatchTV
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