Kevin Hansen has sustained a cracked vertebra and a bruised lung after a heavy landing during the ‘crazy race’ at Sunday’s Desert X-Prix Extreme E season-opener in Saudi Arabia.
The JBXE driver suffered a violent compression traversing the final downhill section of the course, but was able to complete his lap.
After getting out of the car unaided, Hansen was then seen lying on the floor in discomfort. He was quickly taken to the on-site medical facility before being airlifted to a local hospital where he spent the night.
Hansen had been leading the race at the time, and handed the car over to Molly Taylor who was ultimately beaten by McLaren’s Tanner Foust – who progressed to the final – and the Abt Cupra entry driven by Nasser Al-Attiyah.
“Had a very hard compression at the final downhill yesterday in the crazy race, which resulted in a cracked vertebrae 8 and a bruised lung,” Hansen explained on social media. “But as you can see I already sat up with my back support and the doctors are confident the injury will heal well.”
Foust crashed in the final, rear-ending the Rosberg X Racing car on the opening lap and flipping over. He suffered a bruised leg in that incident but was released soon after a brief examination by the on-site medical team.
Christine GZ had also been injured after rolling her Veloce machine at a fast left-hander at the bottom of another hill during solo qualifying. She suffered a baseline fracture to her left foot but she expects to be back in time for the next round in Sardinia, which takes place in two months’ time.
