The fifth stage of the 2024 Dakar was very long, with more than 500 kilometers of transfer for the motorbikes, but only 118 of special tests on the harsh dunes of the Empty Quarter. There, the riders had to face the challenge of navigation and decide what strategy to adopt in view of the starting order of the 48-hour stage, in which the top 23 riders will start in reverse order.
At Honda they were able to celebrate the fourth victory of this edition with Pablo Quintanilla, but things did not go so well at Hero, as Joan Barreda crashed, arriving more than ten minutes behind the winner and therefore finishing outside the top twenty positions of the day. Furthermore, the runner from Torreblanca showed up at the Shubaytah bivouac with quite visible bruises, even with blood on the upper part of his nose.
A group of media, including Motorsport.com, went to the Hero tent and one of the team members confirmed that it was a fall, in which he hit his head and chest. It all started from a dune, where he jumped and, bouncing, hit the motorbike, so he went to the medical center to do an initial check-up and make sure there was no further damage. Once out of there, however, he seemed rather dazed, admitting to pain in his sternum and arm.
Apparently, the rider from Torreblanca tried to cut through one of the sand dunes of the Empty Quarter desert, and when he passed with his Hero, he cushioned his jump and went straight into the handlebars, hitting them with both parts of the body, before ending up on the ground a little further on.
However, the Spaniard finished the fifth stage of the Dakar, and it is expected that he will be able to continue the race without major problems, since it was not a too strong blow, as could be seen from the helmet, which was shown to journalists by a team member.
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