Today is a sad day in the 28th Edition of the Dakar cross-country rally, as Australian rider Andy Caldecott has died from injuries sustained when he crashed just 250km into the marathon stage nine, between Nouakchott and Kiffa in Mauritania, Africa.

According to the official reports from the organizer, Caldecott was on the fast portion of the route today when the accident happened. The Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O) requires emergency beacons on all vehicles, be it two-wheel or four-wheel machines, that compete in what is termed the most dangerous race in the world.

Caldecott's beacon alerted the rally headquarters at 11:31am local time that there was an emergency situation. The medical helicopter landed at 11:55am at the scene but the doctors were unable to give treatment as it appeared the Australian had died immediately.

The 41-year-old rider was running in tenth overall after stage eight in his third Dakar rally. Caldecott scored the stage three special this year in a remarkable comeback from behind on the 314km Nador to Er Rachidia special in Morocco; the first African stage.

At the time of his win, Caldecott admitted: "I think I have been lucky, I started 28th today, far behind the leaders, and I think it eased the stage for me in terms of navigation. I am quite surprised to win today, since I didn't really prepare for this rally."

The Repsol Red Bull KTM rider's accident was the first, and hopefully, only tragedy in this year's Dakar.

R.I.P ANDY

Sad loss to the sport RIP

R.I.P Andy

I was rooting for yah!

more info here.

http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fSe ... Id=3058912

just saw it on tv but was SBS in some foreign language so it didnt quite make sense...

yeah hopefully the last accident for the rally

heard about it last nite

RIP DUDE

they have had something like 25 people die in that rally in the past 23 years or so ... pretty tough race!!

very sad but at least he died in what he loved doing!
not many people can say that!

RIP Andy

his passing is unfortunate and obviously sad for his family, but he went out doing what he loved and it was apparently instant, he didnt suffer

condolences to his family, and rip to Andy

A true gentleman lost
I met him years ago in Alice Springs at the Finke desert race.

He will be missed

Yeah its bad for the motorsport and Dakar is proabbly one of the most dangerous as its such a fast paced race
i remember about 4 years ago one of teh trucks rolled doing about 120kmh and killed all 3
Its a danegrous sport and juts like on teh road the riders face the most risk. Why i dont generally ride on the road too much, too many d***head to watch out for.

RIP Andy a true loss to the motorbike community

Very sad indeed that news was, R.I.P Andy im sure you will be remembered well.