Luciano Benavides crashes out of Andalucia Rally | News

Luciano Benavides has been forced to withdraw from the 2020 Andalucia Rally following a crash on Wednesday's stage one.

The Argentinian was airlifted to hospital due to pain in his ribs with doctors performing x-rays and other medical checks in order to assess his injuries. Despite being in notable discomfort, thankfully Luciano Benavides suffered no broken bones. He will remain in hospital overnight to allow medical staff to carry out further tests and to monitor his condition.

Enjoying a strong opening day at the Andalucia Rally – his debut competition for Husqvarna Factory Racing – Luciano posted the sixth-fastest time on the short, nine-kilometre Super Special Stage. Heading into the first full day of racing, Luciano was confident of a good result and looking forward to returning to rally competition.

Navigating well and maintaining a good pace throughout much of the 240-kilometre timed special, he unfortunately crashed with just four kilometres remaining. Fully conscious, but complaining of some pain to his chest, the young Argentinian was airlifted to hospital where he remains tonight. Luciano will take no further part in the event.

Pela Renet – Husqvarna Factory Racing Rally Team Manager: “Thankfully, it seems as if Luciano Benavides will soon be out of hospital and that he suffered no serious injuries. It was terrible to hear that he had crashed today, especially with him being close to the finish of the stage. Although it is frustrating that he is out of the Andalucia Rally, we are sure he will be fully fit for the Dakar Rally in January and soon back to his training. This is racing, it’s disappointing for everyone in the team, but most importantly Luciano will be ok.”

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Lamentablemente estoy fuera del @andalucia_rally 😔 A 4 kms del final tuve un fuerte golpe que me dejó en el piso con mucho dolor interno y en las costillas sin poder moverme, no venía exigido ni nada raro, se me trabo la dirección en una curva lenta y pase por arriba del manubrio, la moto me cayó encima y eso fue lo que me golpeo. – Ahora estoy en el hospital haciendome todos los estudios, voy a pasar la noche en revisión, huesos rotos no tengo así que espero no sea nada más grave y poder salir mañana – Gracias a todos por sus mensajes y perdón a mi equipo @rockstarhusky por no poder llegar al final del rally 🙏

A post shared by Luciano Benavides (@l.benavides77) on Oct 7, 2020 at 11:07am PDT

4 kms from the end I had a strong blow that left me on the floor with a lot of internal pain and in my ribs without being able to move, it was not demanded or anything strange, the direction stuck in a slow curve and I went over the handlebars, the bike fell on me and that’s what hit me.
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Now I’m in the hospital doing all my studies, I’m going to spend the night undergoing a check-up, I don’t have broken bones so I hope it’s nothing more serious and I can leave tomorrow
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Thank you all for your messages and sorry to my team @rockstarhusky for not being able to reach the end of the rally 🙏