Heartbreak as Branch exits Dakar Rally

He survived the incident with minor injuries as suffered bruising and pain on his right hand side and was taken by road to the medical services. After the seeking medical attention, the biker made a decision to retire from the race on stage six of the rally 12.

He had a difficult start to the this year's rally as on the first two days, navigation problems saw him finishing outside the top 20 in overall standings. He tried to stage a come back on stage three with a 11th spot finish on the day, as he moved places higher in the rally standings. In stage four, he managed to settle for 14th place in the longest and fast paced stage of the race. His biggest triumph came in stage five as he was second on the day, and moved to seventh place in the overall standings. Branch's performance in stage five was glimmer of hope as he just missed his second second career Dakar Rally stage win by five minutes whilst he was just two places off his targeted top five finish.