Kevin Hansen suffers cracked vertebra and bruised lung in Desert X Prix Crazy Race

Extreme E driver Kevin Hansen is undergoing hospital treatment after a wild run in Sunday’s Desert X Prix Crazy Race ended with a fractured T8 vertebra and a bruised lung.

The Crazy Race, which comprises the bottom four teams in qualifying points with the top two advancing to the Final, saw Hansen and JBXE team-mate Molly Taylor finish third. Hansen was the first in the #22 and got off to a furious start that saw him hold a seven-second lead over McLaren XE‘s Emma Gilmour when he handed over the car to Taylor.

However, his rapid pace had caused him to take an especially hard landing on the downhill leading to the start/finish line and driver swap bay, resulting in his injuries. Upon trading off, he had to lay down to recover before receiving medical attention. Hansen received a seven-second time penalty as he had sped entering the switching dock at 47 km/h, though the team ultimately did not lose any positons from the infraction. With Taylor, the #22 placed third and missed out on the Final by nine seconds including the penalty.

After on-site evaluation at the track, Hansen was taken to the King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, North Western Region in Tabuk. He was eventually visited by Taylor, his team, and older brother Timmy Hansen of Andretti United.

“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. But as you can see I already sat up with my back support and the doctors are confident the injury will heal well,” read a Monday Instagram post by Hansen.

“I’m so thankful for all you messages, the medical team at the track, and the amazing people here at the hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. They have taken really good care of me since the moment I jumped out of the car on course. I’ll keep you all posted on my progress of recovery that I already have started planning with my amazing people at Red Bull”.

Taylor wrote on Instagram with a photo of Hansen smiling in his hospital bed, “Great to see this legend ok and in good spirits after his mega lap in the crazy race.”

On Saturday, JBXE was ninth in single-car qualifying with Hansen setting the eighth-best time of twenty drivers who took part. The team finished third in Heat #2 later that day.

The Desert X Prix, the first round of the 2022 Extreme E season, was a surprisingly brutal weekend for injuries. Single-car qualifying was briefly halted when Christine GZ‘s Veloce Racing car flipped and she fractured her foot, forcing Hedda Hosås to fill in for Sunday’s races. While timetables for their recoveries were not disclosed, she and Hansen have over two months to heal before the next race in Sardinia on 7/8 May. The injury should also not interfere with Hansen’s FIA World Rallycross obligations as that series’ season does not begin until July.

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