Bad news for Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team in Extreme E. The squad that still has not been able to shake off Nico Rosberg’s drivers, who lead Championship, now has a tough loss for Greenland X Prix on August 28 and 29.
The Spaniard Cristina Gutiérrez, will be the great absentee on the third round of the tournament, due to an injury she suffered while participating on the World Rally Championship qualification stage in Kazakhstan.
The Burgos native suffered two fractured vertebrae – by compression – during the last stage, and had a small odyssey to return from Spain. Fortunately, she is already at home and willing to begin her rehabilitation immediately.
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“We took a big hit in the first 30 kilometers of the last stage, but we decided to keep on racing. We finished the 260 kilometers and managed to win it. When we arrived, I was suffering a lot of pain and they decided to send me directly to the hospital, where I had a CAT scan and confirmed two broken vertebrae,” revealed the driver.
Two Months Absence
Gutierrez, who after announcing her return to Spain held her fans in suspense for three weeks, reappeared for an update to supporters about her health condition. “I have been thinking a lot these weeks and I was very moved by all your love and messages, calls and gifts, truly there is no better medicine than your love, so thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
“I have to stop for two months, but it is making me value other things and to finally understand the many situations I am going through. I have started rehab, and I will let you know how I am progressing”, she wrote. “The treatment is about going to the beach a lot, relaxing and resting. And that’s what I’m going to do, a different summer but with the best medicine, the SUN,” she added.
Her arrival on Hamilton’s team was no coincidence. Gutierrez has on her resume being only the second woman to win a stage in Dakar Rally and she has been her country’s off-road champion since 2012.
Written by I Jhonattan González
