AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLIST Andy Caldecott has been killed in a crash in the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally.
The 41-year-old KTM rider, who won last Monday’s third stage, was in 10th place overall after Saturday’s eighth stage. Caldecott crashed 250km into Monday’s 599km stage, between Nouakchott and Kiffa in Mauritania. He becomes the 23rd competitor to die in the Dakar Rally since the event started 28 years ago. Last year, two motorcyclists died – Spain’s Juan Manuel Perez and Italy’s Fabrizio Meoni.
Caldecott, who was married with one child, won the Australia Safari four times, from 2000 and 2003, and was competing in his third Dakar. He had retired from riding last year, having failed to raise sufficient funds, but was given a surprise Dakar Rally chance by KTM just before Christmas, as replacement for Jordi Duran.
