The Dakar is much more than a race. It is companionship. For this reason, the outrage that has been in the Dakar in recent hours, both inside and outside of it, over what happened in stage 2 is not strange: Giniel de Villiers rammed a Chilean motorcyclist, Cesar Zumarán, at low speed, because your car was moved unexpectedly by a stone. In difficult navigation areas, with cars and motorcycles sharing the track, it is something that can happen. But what really outraged everyone was that a veteran driver like De Villiers, a 2009 Dakar champion and one of the great names in the car category, did not stop to attend to the rider.
For this reason, the Dakar decided to sanction Giniel with 5 minutes, who did not hesitate to explain what happened, apologizing for not having stopped. According to De Villiers, the South African Toyota driver understood that the rider was fine because he greeted him and told him to pass. Although despite this, he acknowledged that he should have gotten out of the car to help the pilot, since according to what can be seen in the images collected by ‘Frnace TV’, the motorist quickly fell to the ground with signs of pain.
“During stage 1 of the Dakar Rally we were involved in an incident with rider # 106. As we were going up a very difficult and steep, narrow and rocky section, our car went to the left because of a rock, which made us hit the back of the pilot 106, making him fall to the ground “, Giniel explains through Instagram.
“There was enough room to their right to pass safely, but unexpectedly our car went left over a rock. We stopped immediately and backed away. The rider got up and gestured for us to pass by, which we then did safely. We should have stopped to check if he was okay, but because he greeted us, we understood that he was okay. “, clarified the Toyota pilot.
“I want to apologize for not stopping and also for the unfortunate incident. Rider 106 continued to finish the stage and is still in the race. I wish him a safe and successful race,” concluded the South African on Instagram.
Discussion about this post