Yasir Seaidan’s 2023 Dakar entry jeopardised by injury

Due to a hand injury, Yasir Seaidan will not race for the rest of 2022 and his 2023 Dakar Rally pospects are looking grim. He posted on social media that he recently underwent surgery to address the matter, which will force him to wear a cast for a month before beginning physical rehabilitation. With Dakar only three months away, he fears the timetable for recovery will not be optimal for him to take part.

“Yesterday, I had an operation on the palm of my right hand due to an injury that caused a torn ligament and inflammation and moved the tendon out of its place, and I will be in a plaster cast for a month and then physical therapy for two months, God willing,” wrote Seaidan. “Unfortunately, I will not participate in the upcoming races and the possibility of my participation in the Dakar Rally became weak.”

Seaidan races in the FIA Middle East Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and finished third overall at the Qatar International Baja in March. In 2021, he placed runner-up for the Cross-Country Bajas World Cup to fellow Saudi racer Yazeed Al-Rajhi with a pair of wins in the Sharqiyah Baja and Jordan Baja.

He first competed at Dakar in 2014 in an SSV, but retired after five stages. A return two years later saw great improvement as he placed third in the T2 category.

Since the Rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020, he has attempted every edition in the Cars class. He finished ninth in the 2020 race with X-raid Team followed by thirty-ninth with SRT Racing Team, then rejoined X-raid for 2022. Despite finishing fourth in Stage #4, the following leg ended when his Mini rolled over.

The 2023 Dakar Rally is scheduled to begin on 31 December 2022.

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