Amputee Baumel wins Dakar first stage, Al Attiyah second

Yanbu, Saudi Arabia: Frenchman Mathieu Baumel hailed an enormous triumph as just a year after having his leg amputated he won the opening stage of t...

Yanbu, Saudi Arabia: Frenchman Mathieu Baumel hailed an “enormous triumph” as just a year after having his leg amputated he won the opening stage of the Dakar Rally alongside Belgian driver Guillaume De Mevius yesterday.

Navigator Baumel was back at the race just 11 months after his right lower leg was amputated after being run over while helping someone who had broken down on the road in France.

Last January it had looked as if life behind the wheel was in the past for the successful co-driver and navigator.

“Just being here is an enormous triumph,” said the 49-year-old, who got into his car on Sunday carrying his prosthetic limb.

Driving a mini the pair won the perilous 305km first stage at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.