Prior to this Dakar Rally, Michel Kremer and Thomas du Bois had a plan: don’t do anything crazy and finish. With that mindset, they started the rally just fine until the dunes in the third stage. They crashed and had to go to the hospital with back problems. They are now home and, under the circumstances, are doing well.
Michel still thinks back on the moment a lot. “It actually went fine; we drove at ease and there weren’t any issues. We still had 7.5 kilometers to go through the dunes and suddenly we came to a halt, and we were both in terrible pain. We immediately got out of the car and lay down. Then we were picked up by helicopter and taken to the hospital, after several scans we were allowed to go home. So, we flew home as soon as possible.”
At the hospital and at home, Michel analyzed the crash. “We were driving uphill and probably the rear wheels suddenly got some grip in the last stretch. As a result, we launched and ended up on the nose. The car has no damage, there is a dent in the hood, but that’s all. And we ourselves have a lot of pain in our back and still a lot of muscle pain.”
Michel and Thomas have yet to see any data or images. “The Coronel Dakar Team went to get the car the next morning in the desert and immediately took it to Riyadh. Tomorrow is the rest day there, so hopefully they will be able to read and retrieve some data. Because I’m very curious to see if we can get anything out of that.”
Thomas already indicated in the hospital bed that it was his last Dakar, Michel is not sure about that yet. “Let’s get through this first and then we’ll see. For now, I want to thank the team, the Dakar organization and all the medics for what they have done for us. But I also definitely want to thank Thomas and wish him a speedy recovery, without him I could never have done it.”
