Chile’s Enduro superstar Chaleco Lopez is in the middle of his toughest battle yet as he lies in hospital after crashing out of the Tunisian Rally.
Chaleco was setting the pace on the fourth stage of the rally between Ksar Ghilane and Ras El Oued when he was thrown off his Aprilia just metres from the finish line.
The horrendous crash left Chaleco with lung damage and fractures to his tibia, fibula, ribs and metatarsals on the right side of his body, as well as fractures to his skull and spine.
Chaleco was airlifted from the crash site to a specialized trauma unit on the Tunisian island of Djerba where his condition was described as not critical.
There was only one topic of conversation the bivouac at Ras El Oued and Helder Rodrigues was certainly in no mood to celebrate hitting first place after the fourth stage. Helder has first-hand experience of what Chaleco is going through, the Portuguese biker endured a 23-day stay in hospital after a crash during the 2007 Argentine Rally.
Polish biker Jakub Przygonski was riding his KTM in Chaleco’s wake when the accident happened.
“Chaleco overtook me 50km into the race and we rode together at a very fast pace. When the accident occurred, so close to the finish, I was right behind him. I was glad to be in a position to immediately raise the alarm.”
Spain’s Jordi Viladoms was also in attendance and was clearly shaken by what he had seen out on the course.
"All the bikers are very close and in these circumstances, the race goes to the back of your mind"
“It’s never nice to go through this kind of thing, Chaleco is a great friend. All the bikers are very close and in these circumstances, the race goes to the back of your mind. I will be hoping to hear some good news sometime soon.”
Strong performances at recent editions of the Dakar Rally in front of his home crowd have propelled Chaleco to the status of national hero in Chile. Back home, messages of support came flooding in as soon as news of Chaleco’s crash reached his homeland.
Biker Jeremias Israel posted on his twitter account “Fuerza Chaleco, all our love and support to you!” Following Jeremias’ lead on Twitter were other faces of the Chilean Enduro scene as Felipe Prohens, Daniel Gouet and Eliseo Salazar all wished Chaleco a speedy recovery.
It’s not just the biking community that is getting behind Chaleco though as his friends from other sports also sent over their own positive vibes.
International footballer Jorge Valdivia is hoping for a “good recovery for my friend Chaleco Lopez.” Chilean tennis star Fernando Gonzalez echoed Valdivia’s wishes with “a salute to Chaleco and his great strength.”
And, of course, from everyone at Red Bull we send our support to Chaleco and hope to see him fixed up as possible. Dale Chaleco! Vamos Grosso!
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Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull photofiles
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