IN
THE
WIND
P28
DAKAR RACER
FOUND DEAD
P
olish rider Michal Hernik, 39, was found dead
along Stage 3 at the 2015 Dakar Rally. The
rookie Dakar competitor riding for the Farma Prom
Factory Team was found at mile 126 between San
Juan and Chilecito.
Race organizers say that the circumstances of
his death have not yet been determined and that
neither Hernik nor his bike showed any signs of a
crash.
Another report described Hernik as being found
away from his bike with his helmet off, and suggest-
ed that his death may have been due to a medical
illness.
"When the race management detected the loss
of his Irritrack signal and was informed that he had
not completed the special stage at 15:16, it decid-
ed to start a search for the rider at 15:23," read a
release from the organization. "An ambulance he-
licopter found the rider [almost 1000 feet] off the
route at 16:03. Unfortunately the on-board doctor
could only confirm the rider's death."
Hernik had previously competed in the Abu
Dhabi Desert Challenge and the Morocco Rally,
all with the dream of one day competing at Dakar.
He and a friend were racing the 2015 Dakar Rally
together—an effort that Hernik described as taking
two years to put together.
During his rally adventures in Africa, Hernik and
his friend helped sponsor the building of an or-
phanage in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Michal Hernik died
while competing in the
Dakar Rally.
HAHN HEALING
M
onster Energy Kawasaki Team rider Wil
Hahn is well on the road to recovery fol-
lowing his crash during practice at Anaheim
I, January 3. He hopes to get back to training
again in three months.
Hahn suffered many injuries, including a
broken arm, ribs and multiple vertebrae, as
well as a punctured lung. Perhaps the most
serious of the injuries is the broken arm
(humerus), which required surgery. (It's the
same upper arm that he broke and had surgi-
cally plated last year.)
The Monster Energy Kawasaki Team says
it has, as of now, no intentions of recruiting
a fill-in rider until Hahn is healthy enough to
race again.
Wil Hahn had successful surgery on the arm
he broke at the opening SX round in Anaheim.
