Argentine rally driver Juan Cruz Yacopini (Toyota Gazoo Racing), current Baja world champion, suffers from serious polytrauma with spinal shock after jumping into the water in a shallow area of the El Carrizal dam, in the Argentine province of Mendoza, the newspaper reported this Saturday. Bugle.
According to Argentine media, Cruz, 26 and who was beginning to prepare to participate in the 2026 Dakar Rally with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, was sailing with friends on a boat along the dam when he decided to jump into the water; The shallowness of the area caused it to hit bottom. Those present rushed him to a meeting point where an ambulance was waiting which took him to hospital.
During that trip to the hospital, the Mendoza man suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, although medical professionals were able to stabilize him. At the Alfredo Italo Perrupato Hospital in San Martín he was diagnosed with severe polytrauma and spinal shock, then he was transferred to the Cuyo Clinic in the same city. Cruz remains admitted there in serious condition.
Cruz has participated in five editions of the Dakar Rally and in 2025 he achieved his best position, seventh in the automobile category, with his Catalan co-driver Dani Oliveras. Also this year he was crowned champion of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Baja Cross-Country World Cup.
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