Carlos Sainz Sr. Provides Update on Back Injury Days After Pulling Out of Dakar Rally

Carlos Sainz Sr.’s aim to win a fifth Dakar Rally came crashing down after he suffered a huge accident in the second stage of the 2025 event that led his car to suffer irreparable damage. While there were concerns that the 62-year-old also suffered a back injury, thankfully for him, that is not the case.

Taking to Instagram, Sainz Sr. provided a positive update for his fans, stating, “Not all are bad news. As soon as I arrived in Madrid I had a complete medical checkup for the pain in my back and they have been able to confirm that I have no injury. In the coming days, I’ll get back to my training routine”.

It is impressive that Sainz Sr. is even competing at his age, let alone fighting for wins. Heading into this year’s Dakar Rally, a lot was expected of him as he revealed his physical condition was even better than last year — when he won his fourth Dakar Rally.

Posting a video of the health check-ups he went before competing in the 2025 Dakar Rally, Sainz Sr. said, “It went really well, actually even slightly better (than last year). “Everything is ready now. Time to pack up and head to [Saudi] Arabia”.

While Sainz Sr.’s Dakar Rally may have ended on a bitter note this year, it has not reduced his motivation one bit to continue with his rigorous training routine, as he revealed in his post. After all, the Spaniard is no stranger to suffering major setbacks, having once also suffered multiple fractures in his vertebrae due to a horrifying crash in the 2023 Dakar Rally.

Setbacks seem to motivate Sainz Sr.

Being a two-time World Rallying Champion, Sainz Sr. has already achieved the highest of successes and has nothing much left to prove. However, his will to continue defying the odds even in his 60s is what keeps him going.

It is for the same reason that even a huge crash in the 2023 Dakar Rally — when his car flipped around and he was airlifted to the hospital for subsequent check-ups — was not enough to stop him from racing. After suffering multiple serious injuries in his vertebrae, his focus remained on recovering “as soon as possible” rather than if he should continue racing.

“Unfortunately, the results haven’t brought good news because I fractured the T5 and T6 vertebrae,” Sainz Sr. informed his fans about the consequences of the crash he had suffered. “The good thing is that both vertebrae are stable and from this day on my priority will be to recover as soon as possible”.