Grabham out of 2014 Dakar

The 32-year-old winner of at least 30 Australian off-road racing titles encountered a drop-off in thick dust and fell heavily. Taken to hospital for examination in Argentina, Grabham was subsequently released, but will take no further part in this year's Dakar.

General Manager of KTM Australia Jeff Leisk said the fall was most likely a result of yesterday's misfortune, in which Grabham - while running third in the stage - was one of four riders to follow a lead competitor down a wrong turn and got badly stuck on a steep mountainside.

The difficulty compounded when one rider crashed heavily, and Grabham and two others waited with the injured rider while he was airlifted to safety.

The chain of events dropped Grabham from 9th outright after Stage 2 to 32nd place the following day, and left him with many slower riders to pass in dangerous, dusty conditions.

"Ben's had to ride through a lot of dust today and found a big drop and gone over the front," said Leisk.

"I've received a small amount of information and it looks like he's hit his head and is pretty battered and bruised. He had to get checked out but seems to have nothing broken. Obviously he's extremely disappointed to have his Dakar end in this manner.

"I was concerned when he had his setback yesterday because it puts the rider in the position of having to take calculated risks to keep moving forward. We've all done it - but the most important thing is that he seems okay, so I'm very relieved about that."

The Stage 4 victory went to Spanish rider Juan Pedrero Garcia ahead of KTM riders Francisco Lopez Contardo from Chile and Spaniard Marc Coma, a three-time winner in the motorcycle category. In the overall standings, Juan Barreda Bort holds a narrow lead over Coma and Contardo.

For more information on KTM motorcycles visit www.ktm.com.au