Corporal Phillip Gillespie still in race as third Race2Recovery vehicle forced to retire after in-race accident on Stage 6

The remaining Race2Recovery race vehicle of driver Major Matt O’Hare, from Earlsfield, London and co-driver Cpl Gillespie, from the borough was confirmed as finishing yesterday’s Stage 6. Their car has passed through today’s time control to signal its start on Stage 7, first travelling on the liaison route before starting the special stage. Stage 7 stretches 754km from Calama, Chile to Salta, Argentina and includes the 220km timed special stage.

The third vehicle’s Driver Ben Gott and co-driver SSgt Mark Zambon were racing across the desert in Chile on Stage 6 of the competition when their Wildcat race vehicle hit a ditch and rolled several times.

Gott requested immediate medical assistance using the in-car safety system. A medical team was scrambled by the event organisers, while a Dutch race crew, competing in the T4 class, was alerted by the organisers as they were close to the scene. The Dutch team was able to right the car and help remove SSgt Zambon from the vehicle. Gott, who complained of back pain, remained in the vehicle until the arrival of the ASO organisers’ medical team.

Both Gott and SSgt Zambon were treated at the scene. Gott, 35, has suffered injury to his back and was transferred to a local hospital in Calama, Chile, for care and further tests. He has since been discharged. SSgt Zambon, who suffered bruising, was taken for observation at the medical centre at the event bivouac. Relatives of the injured duo have been informed.

Ben Gott, from Alton in Hampshire, is one of the civilian experts on the team and has been involved in off-road racing for many years. He first joined the team in an advisory capacity, with extensive mechanical experience, and later became one of the four team race drivers.

Double- amputee SSgt Mark Zambon, 27, is one two US Marines on the Race2Recovery team and is based in San Diego and originally from Marquette, Michigan. SSgt Zambon was a bomb technician responsible for dismantling the countless numbers of home-made explosives hidden all over Iraq and Afghanistan. He had been injured in explosions four times but it was the fifth time, on 11 January 2011 in Sangin, Afghanistan, that resulted in the loss of both his legs and a recovery period that would take 18 months. Only five months into that recovery, SSgt Zambon signed up to take part in a challenge through The Heroes Project, which would eventually see him reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2012.

Team manager Warrant Officer Andrew Taylor said: “It’s been a baptism of fire and we’ve experienced everything that goes hand in hand with the Dakar Rally, which we can now testify as to being the toughest race in the world. The team has performed in an outstanding way given the scale of the challenge and has put in hours and hours of hard graft during all hours of the day.”

On Wednesday, three other members of the Race2Recovery team, John Winskill, Justin Birchall and Lee Townsend were injured in a serious road traffic accident when the Land Rover Defender (a team support vehicle not a race vehicle) that they were travelling in was involved in a collision in which two Peruvian civilians died and left several others injured. Winskill, Birchall and Townsend were transferred to a local hospital close to the scene in Tacna, Peru, before being flown to a hospital in Lima, Peru for further tests and treatment. The three team members are described as stable and recovering well.

Today, they released a joint statement saying: “The three injured team members of Race2Recovery, John Winskill, Justin Birchall and Lee Townsend, would like to extend their heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of the two people who lost their lives in the tragic incident that took place near Tacna in Peru on 9th January. They would also like to wish a full and speedy recovery to those others who were hurt alongside themselves.

“Their thanks and gratitude go out to the hospital staff and authorities from both Tacna and Lima for their help and for treating them with such kindness and respect which has been so typical of the Peruvian people throughout their stay. They greatly appreciate the members of the ASO, the organisers of the Dakar Rally, who assisted them both personally and behind the scenes throughout the rally and after they sustained their injuries. The injured Race2Recovery members are very sad to be leaving the Dakar rally under such unfortunate circumstances and wish their fellow team members the very best in their continuing endeavours”.