Retirement of Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz after stage 10

Sainz and Cruz examine the terminal damage to their Peugeot

Winning the hellish stage 9 on Wednesday must have taken a toll on his car. At kilometer 213 of stage 10 between Belen and La Rioja, Carlos Sainz was stopped by a breakage of the spacer between the gearbox and the engine.

The number 303 Peugeot 2008 DKR reached the bivouac on tow from a service truck. After a full analysis, the team engineers concluded that as well as the breakage of the spacer between the engine and gearbox, there was other significant collateral damage that will prevent the crew of Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz from continuing in the 2016 Dakar.

They were in the overall lead of the rally as today’s leg got underway, with two stage wins (stage 7 and stage 9).