Indian rider CS Santosh suffers crash in Dakar Rally, in medically-induced coma

According to reports, CS Santosh was conscious when paramedics arrived at the scene before he was rushed to Riyadh.

Indian motorcycle racer CS Santosh

New Delhi: Renowned Indian motorcycle racer CS Santosh suffered a crash during the ongoing Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia and was put in a medically-induced coma after being airlifted to a hospital in Riyadh. The 37-year-old Santosh, who was representing the Hero MotoSports in one of the world's biggest rallies, crashed on Wednesday and is being kept under a 24-hour observation. 

In an unfortunate incident, @cs_santosh22 suffered a crash in Stage 4 of #Dakar2021 today. He has been taken to a hospital in Riyadh. In the initial assessment, he seems stable.
Join us in wishing him a speedy recovery. pic.twitter.com/ePbtRIsBcT — Hero MotoSports (@hero_motosports) January 6, 2021

Santosh has a suspected head injury. According to reports, he was conscious when paramedics arrived at the scene before he was rushed to Riyadh. The incident occurred on the same stage where last year, Hero MotoSport rider Paulo Goncalves died while competing in the Dakar 2020. Hero MotoSport withdrew from the rally after the death of Goncalves.

Santosh crashed around 135 km into the stage on a gravel track and had to forfeit the stage. This was Santosh's seventh attempt at the Dakar Rally, considered the world's most gruelling off-road motorsport event.

The January 2-16 rally divided into 12 stages has competitors traversing 7646km. Stage 4 is, incidentally, the longest stage of the rally, spanning a total of 813km.  

Who is CS Santosh? 

In 2007, Santosh finished first at the National Champion Supercross Indian experts

In the following year he finished first at the MRF Supercross Challenge Gulf Dirt Track Championship

Santosh had a near-fatal accident during the 2013 Abu Dhabi desert challenge, suffering burns to his neck after his Suzuki MX450X caught fire. 

In 2015, he became the first Indian to enter and complete the Dakar rally

In 2018, Santosh finished at 34 in the Dakar rally bike category, which remains as the best by an Indian in this competition.