Brett crashed, stitched up and back on his bike
Brett Cummings on his Honda had a crash during stage 8 of the Dakar Rally, but was back on his bike in no time.
During stage 8 on Monday, January 13, Brett finished the stage in a time of six hours and 36 minutes.
He is currently in 28th position, 37 minutes and 16 seconds behind the current leader.
“I had a big crash. I received four stitches in my cheek and my legs are sore. Not feeling so great,” said Brett in a Tweet.
French rider Alain Duclos, riding a Sherco, won his first Dakar Rally stage for eight years, beating overall motorcycle leader Marc Coma (KTM) by just 75 seconds after a 400km timed run from Tucuman to Salta in Argentina, on Friday, January 10. Alain’s last win on the Dakar came in 2006 in Bamako, Mali, when the rally was still running in Africa. “Today, it was my type of terrain.
We’ve got over the worst over the past few days and the rest day has arrived at the right time – it couldn’t be better timed,” he said.
After six stages, Alain was third overall, more than an hour behind three-time former winner Marc.
Leading South African motorcycle competitor Riaan van Niekerk came in 13th, 13 minutes behind Alain, making up another place to 14th overall, after starting 27th in Rosario on January 6.
Brett made up three places to 29th overall, with a steady ride to 39th on the final stage before Saturday’s rest day. Brett however, as a Malle class rider, has to do all his own work on the bike, and will spend the ‘rest day’ ensuring that his Honda is ready for the next five stages.
