Spanish motorcyclist Carles Falcon has died from the serious injuries he suffered last week on the second stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, his team said Monday.
"On Monday, January 15, Carles passed away. The medical team has confirmed that the neurological damage caused by the cardio-respiratory arrest at the time of the accident is irreversible," the TwinTrail Racing Team said in a statement.
"Carles was a smiley person, always active, who enjoyed with passion everythign he did, especially motorcycles. He left us doing something that was his dream, racing the Dakar," it added.
The high-speed stage over jagged rocks and winding sand dunes in the Saudi desert was almost complete on January 7 when the experienced off-road rider from Tarragona crashed.
The 45-year-old was immediately taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia in a medical helicopter, and later flown back to Spain where he had been in intensive care.
Twin Trail Racing said at the time that Falcon, a computer engineer by training, had suffered a fracture of his vertebrae.
The Dakar Rally is one of the world's longest and most demanding endurance races and this year’s 8,000km long 12-stage marathon ends at the Red Sea on January 19.
Falcón was the 33rd competitor to lose their life in the history of the Dakar Rally. Including 46 non-competitor deaths, a total of 78 people have died during the race since 1979.
In 2007, former support machenic, South African Elmer Symons died as he was making his debut as a competitor.
AFP