Dakar rally crash driver set to rejoin race (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Dakar rally crash driver set to rejoin race

11:00am Wednesday 16th January 2013 in News

DAKAR Rally crash victim Justin Birchall has been discharged from hospital.

The dad-of-three was left with four broken ribs, neck and back injuries after his support vehicle was involved in a fatal three-car collision in the Peruvian town of Tacna last Wednesday.

He had been recovering in a hospital in Lima, but left yesterday with the intention of rejoining his Race2Recovery teammates in Chile.

In a post on social networking site Twitter, he said he would be flying to the Chilean capital, Santiago, before driving out to catch up with those still competing in the race.

Team mechanic Lee Townsend, from Yate, near Bristol, and retired Army Major John Winskill, 42, a logistics expert from Durrington, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, were also injured in the accident and have also left hospital.

Mr Birchall, 40, who runs Birchall Foodservice in Network 65 Business Park, Hapton, and his navigator, Cpl Tom Neathway, had earlier been forced to retire from the off-road race when their Wildcat vehicle broke down during the fourth stage.

Two local men, a taxi driver and passenger, died in the crash.