CARLOS SAINZ SENIOR was involved in a horror crash in Dakar Rally and was airlifted to hospital - before telling the helicopter to turn back so he could return to the race.
The 60-year-old, whose son Carlos Sainz Jr. competes for Ferrari in Formula One, rolled his huge Audi RS Q e-tron buggy after awkwardly flying over a sand dune.
The vehicle flew much further than was intended as it landed face down into the ground, which caused the car to flip over.
Sainz’s accident happened just 6km into the ninth stage of the rally.
His co-driver Lucas Cruz was understood to have escaped unhurt but the two-time World Rally champion allegedly suffered severe chest pain as a chopper came in to take him to hospital for precautionary checks.
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The official Dakar Rally twitter account wrote: “@CSainz_oficial, who lost control of his @audisport after 6 km, has thrown in the towel, still suffering from pain in the right side of his torso.
“He has been airlifted to the hospital in Riyadh to undergo further medical check-ups.”
But unbelievably, just minutes later, they reported that Sainz had demanded that the helicopter turn around as he abandoned medical treatment in order to come back to the rally.
That means that Sainz can still be classified as finishing the event, although any hopes he had of victory are over.
The Dakar Rally tweeted: “New episode in the @CSainz_oficial saga on stage 9: the Spaniard asked the medical helicopter on its way to the hospital to turn back and take him to his car.
“He is now back with Lucas Cruz waiting for their assistance vehicle.”
This incident was the second time in just a matter of days that Sainz was involved in an accident at the Dakar Rally.
The WRC legend damaged his Audi on Friday following a collision on the dunes with Stephane Peterhansel.
