Aussie star vows to finish Dakar Rally despite grisly injury

Aussie rally star Daniel Sanders has vowed to ride on in the gruelling Dakar Rally despite suffering a suspected broken collarbone and sternum in a crash on Wednesday night (AEDT).

Sanders, the reigning champion of the bikes division of the famous race, was once again leading the category when he crashed over a sand dune 138km into the 371km 10th stage.

The 31-year-old battled through the pain to finish the stage before seeking medical treatment at the overnight stop. He has dropped from the lead to fourth overall, but said he would have to be "dragged out" of the race before stopping.

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"It looks for sure like a snapped collarbone," he told reporters.

"I went over a dune and it was pretty scary. I nearly landed on (another competitor) and we all missed it. But I got up and knew the collarbone was broken, and also the sternum. I've broken this as well, so there's no power.

"It wasn't nice on the dunes at all. Unfortunately, we've let the rally go now. We'll go back to the team and re-evaluate the injuries and the situation and see if it's safe to continue I guess."

In a video posted to X, Sanders could be seen wincing as he took his riding gloves and helmet off at the end of the stage, but later declared if he was forced out of the race, it won't have been his decision.

"I want to continue - I wouldn't finish today if I didn't want to continue. I've just done 150km in the sand dunes - it's all rocks now so I can just stand up and cruise along," he said.https://x.com/enduromagazin/status/2011412012258021674

"On the gravel roads it's a little easer, but we'll see. We don't quit - Mum and Dad didn't raise no quitter, so I'm not pulling out now.

"Unless someone else tells me to pull out, or they drag me out of the race, I'm not stopping."

Sanders began the stage with a comfortable six-and-a-half minute lead over American Ricky Brabec, who was among the first on the scene after his crash and stopped to assist his stricken rival. Race stewards credited him with 97 seconds for stopping to help Sanders, who unsurprisingly lost 27 minutes over the remaining 230km to slip to fourth, 17 minutes behind Brabec.

Brabec leads Sanders' Argentinian teammate Luciano Benavides by 56 seconds with Spaniard Tosha Schareina third for Honda another 15 minutes and 43 seconds behind.

In the car category, Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah returned to the top for Dacia and opened up a 12-minute gap on Toyota's South African Henk Lategan and a further 50 seconds on Ford's previous leader Nani Roma.

The race ends on Sunday morning (AEDT) on the Red Sea coast.