Yazeed Al Rajhi came close to winning the stage in Stage 4 of the 2024 Dakar but, more importantly, he managed to lengthen and increase his margin in the overall Car classification over his closest pursuers.
Yet the most important thing for him and for his health, more than for his race, is the maneuver that at a certain point in today's stage he managed to do, avoiding a spectator's car that was proceeding in the opposite direction to that of gear.
Landing after a dune with his Toyota GR Hilux T1U managed by the Overdrive Racing team, the Saudi found himself in front of a white van right in his path which headed towards him.
At that point Al Rajhi managed to avoid the vehicle with a great maneuver. The GR Hilux grazed the van, but still avoided contact which, if it had occurred, would have been devastating and potentially very dangerous both for the crew now leading the race and for those behind the wheel of the out-of-competition vehicle.
Thanks to that maneuver, clearly visible from an amateur video published online and which we have attached to the article, Al Rajhi managed to close today's stage in second position, slower than the winner Sébastien Loeb by just over a minute.
This, however, did not slow him down in the general classification, with Carlos Sainz coming fourth and now second just over 4 minutes behind the Saudi prince. This is yet another case of a near miss since the start of this 46th edition of the Dakar, which has already seen some spectators hit by vehicles over the past few days.
Lionel Baud, another driver taking part in the 2024 Dakar in the Car class, had hit a photographer in recent days while he was engaged in a stage. The photographer was transferred to hospital. The Coronel brothers, competing in the SSV category, also hit a person, but this time it was a motorcyclist fully competing.
#Dakar #Video #Rajhi #close #hitting #spectator #headon
