The motorcycle racer Carles Falcón, 45, died this Monday in Tarragona after failing to overcome the serious injuries he suffered as a result of the accident he had eight days ago in the second stage of the Dakar rally, on January 7.
Falcón is the second Spanish participant to die in the Dakar, after the Elche motorcycle driver José Manuel Pérez El Carni in 2005, also injured in the race.
Falcón, who had been transferred by medical plane from Riyadh to Barcelona on Saturday the 13th, was admitted in “critical condition” to the ICU of a hospital in Tarragona, his city of origin.
“The neurological damage caused by the cardiorespiratory arrest at the time of the accident is irreversible,” reported his team, the Twin Trail, from Castellolí, which requested privacy for the family at the farewell events that will be held in the coming days.
Falcón was a “smiling, always active” person who passionately enjoyed everything he did, especially motorcycles, according to his team. “He left us doing something that was his dream, running the Dakar. He was enjoying it, he was happy on the motorcycle. We must remember him for his smile and for the happiness he generated in everyone,” indicates Twin Trail in a statement issued this afternoon.
Carles Falcón, single – with a partner – and without children, was a computer engineer by training, an amateur pilot, as well as a motorcycle instructor and travel guide in the company Twin Trail, in which he was a friend and colleague of Isaac Feliu. “He taught with patience, energy and happiness, he made everyone enjoy the motorcycle. This is what he left us and we will always keep with us, all of us who have been close to him, family, friends, colleagues and supporters,” indicates your team.
“Charly made a lot of people happy, more than 15,000 people every week in an online motorcycle program, he spread joy and passion for motorcycles, and he will be remembered for being an excellent person,” commented Isaac Feliu, his friend, teammate. team and work, to this newspaper.
The Catalan driver suffered a very serious fall in stage 2 of the Dakar rally. As reported by Twin Trail, Falcón fell at kilometer 448 of the second stage, around 3:52 p.m. local time. He was found “unconscious and without a pulse” on the track after suffering a blow to the head, and required resuscitation, according to what his team informed La Vanguardia.
He was assisted by the rally’s emergency team and taken by helicopter to the Al Duwadimi hospital, where he was in an “induced coma” with cerebral edema, and with “uncertain” prospects for recovery, according to Twin Trail.
According to his team, Falcón suffered a fracture of the C2 vertebra, but the priority was to reduce intracranial pressure from cerebral edema.
It so happens that his teammate, Isaac Feliu, also suffered a serious accident two years ago that almost cost him his life. Feliu had to retire from the race in this edition in the first stage due to mechanical problems.
The rider from Castellolí was returning to the Dakar after having suffered a serious accident in his first participation in the Rally in 2022. The Catalan rider crashed with his motorcycle at high speed and suffered a severe blow to the head that almost cost him his death. life.
