A rally car racer who tried to rescue a rival trapped in the sand ended up smashing his opponent’s car to bits – as it rolled nine times down a steep dune.
Paraguayan driver Roberto Recalde and co-driver Juan Sanchez became stuck on a sand dune on the second day of the 2018 Dakar Rally in Pisco, Peru.
The four-wheel drive on their D-Max Isuzu had failed.
Another rally driver stopped to assist 49-year-old Recalde and attached a rope to the front of his rally car.
But after connecting to the the car side-on, the rescuers best attempts at getting their rivals unstuck caused the Isuzu to tumble – rolling nine times before abruptly stopping at the foot of the dune.
Paraguayan driver Roberto Recalde became stuck on sand dune on the second day of the Dakar Rally in Pisco, Peru
Gripping footage of the incident released by event organisers Amaury Sport shows the incident in detail.
The driver’s helmet is seen flying out of the window as the car dramatically rolls.
A second man is seen desperately running after it.
Luckily, nobody was hurt during the rescue attempt gone wrong.
Roberto Recalde has participated in the Dakar Rally on two previous occasions. In 2013 he had to abandon the race just two stages in.
In the run up to the event Recalde said: ‘We have no experience in the dunes of Peru. Our plan is to get to Argentina, since the rally roads are our specialty.
‘We are not going to turn around, we are going to win our category, since we are the only Paraguayan in Autos.’
He added: ‘The first days in the dunes of Peru will be very hard. We really arrived well prepared this time, to look for victory in our division.’
Rescuers best attempts at getting their rivals unstuck caused the Isuzu to tumble – rolling nine times before abruptly stopping at the foot of the dune
The race continues: Frenchman Sebastien Loeb drives with co-driver Daniel Elena of Monaco during this year’s Dakar Rally
Willem du Toit of South Africa rides alongside Juan Agustin Rojo of Argentina during stage two
The first days in the dune were indeed a challenge for Recalde, and left him and his co-driver without a functioning vehicle to race on with.
This year marked 40 years of the rally and the 10th consecutive year has taken place in South America.
The race started in Lima in Peru on January 6 and finishes in Cordoba in Argentina on January 20.
The route has traditionally taken contestants from Paris in France to Dakar in Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 event, races since 2009 have been held in South America.