Photo: Live Event Broadcast via Twitter
The Dakar Rally is probably the hardest motorized competition on the planet, putting both man and machine through a lot of stress while fighting the elements and the tough roads for hundreds of miles. What could be harder than that? Maybe getting struck by lightning?
Yeah, that should do it, and Slovakian rider Ivan Jakes recently went through that. It happened in the Salar Centenario area on the third stage of the Dakar Rally. The KTM rider was 186 miles from the finish line when he got struck during a storm.
But contrary to your expectations, Jakes didn’t stop in his tracks. He was aware he’d been hit by the bolt of lightning and even had pain in his left arm. Still, he carried on and even managed to finish in 15th place.
Now, you may be asking yourself how the hell did he stay alive after such a shock. The thing that saved him was the KTM motorcycle he was riding on, since the metal conducted the electricity into the ground. If he had had a foot down during the moment, it would have been him conducting all the current and things would have been much worse.
After arriving at the stage finish, Ivan was sent to a local hospital for some checks where the medics discovered that he is ultimately all right. He even got green lights to start the next stage of the rally. Now that is passion!
However, Jakes here was incredibly lucky that the bolt of lightning hit the motorcycle and not him. So remember folks, if you’re riding and a storm comes in start looking for shelters like an overpass, gas station or a store. Don’t sit under isolated trees and let the storm pass completely before getting back on the road.
But contrary to your expectations, Jakes didn’t stop in his tracks. He was aware he’d been hit by the bolt of lightning and even had pain in his left arm. Still, he carried on and even managed to finish in 15th place.
Now, you may be asking yourself how the hell did he stay alive after such a shock. The thing that saved him was the KTM motorcycle he was riding on, since the metal conducted the electricity into the ground. If he had had a foot down during the moment, it would have been him conducting all the current and things would have been much worse.
After arriving at the stage finish, Ivan was sent to a local hospital for some checks where the medics discovered that he is ultimately all right. He even got green lights to start the next stage of the rally. Now that is passion!
However, Jakes here was incredibly lucky that the bolt of lightning hit the motorcycle and not him. So remember folks, if you’re riding and a storm comes in start looking for shelters like an overpass, gas station or a store. Don’t sit under isolated trees and let the storm pass completely before getting back on the road.
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