Daker Rider [Almost] Entombed

OK, it's a bit of a 'not quite, lucky escape' story (borrowed from the MCN site).

There’s still two days of the Dakar rally left, but these pictures surely show the best crash of the whole rally!

Swedish female competitor Annie Seel’s KTM is pictured here crashed at the bottom of a 16ft-deep tomb – this is the story of the crash in her own words:

"At km 131 the track split around some ruins, and joined again after. To avoid dust I cut from right track over to the left, across a small rise. Behind the rise a 5m deep tomb opened, 2x3 wide.

"I rode too slow to jump and too fast to stop. Put brakes on, slide bike to the left and abandon ship. I managed to jump to the left edge while bike tumbled down. I am lucky not to go down cause the walls were impossible to climb.

“Stopped some riders to call for help. A helicopter came and I climbed down with a thin rope to check bike, it was ok.

"We tried to pull the bike, but no. They said I must wait for the organisation truck to come and help.

"Took a while but then Mr Etienne Lavigne, race director, arrived in a helicopter instead. Like a true hero he climbed down with a rope, tied my bike with the real tie roses, and instructed the pilot how to lift it.

"Now I could continue the race, saved by the angel from above. Only suffering from painful swollen hand and aching foot."



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