Konrad Dąbrowski was supposed to make his third start in the Dakar Rally in 2023, but appendicitis has forced him to drop those plans. On Thursday, he announced a sudden flare-up necessitated a hospital trip for surgery, and the ensuing rehabilitation will make it impossible for him to race with less than ten days until the event.
“Two days ago I started having a huge stomachache. Pain was really big and we decided that I needed to go to the hospital. Came out it was caused by appendicitis, so it was clear I required a surgery,” he explained. “With far too little time to recover, it is impossible for me to go and race. The Dakar is difficult enough when you’re 100% prepared and after a surgery like that plus all of the sickness I had during second half of the year it would be an impossible challenge. Even though this is something I couldn’t have prevented in any way, I’m really sorry for letting anyone down. It’s a horrible feeling, far worse than the actual physical pain. But I will keep my head up. Now I need a month or so to get back to the full grind and I will do my best to be in the bast shape possible for the season and for Dakar in 2024. Good luck to everyone participating this year, I’ll be cheering.”
Dąbrowski was set to race the #23 Husqvarna 450 for DUUST.CO in the Rally2 class. He finished twenty-eighth overall in his Dakar début in 2021; at the age of nineteen, he was the youngest Bike rider to complete the race. This was followed up by a one-spot improvement (seventh in Rally2) in 2022.
Medical problems had also impacted his performance during his quest for the 2022 World Rally-Raid Championship when he had a bout with COVID-19 in September, a month before the final two rounds in Morocco and Andalucía. While he was able to muster top-five class finishes in both, he fell off the final podium and placed fourth in the Rally2 standings.
The Pole won the Junior Cup classes for the FIM Bajas World Cup and Cross-Country Rallies World Championship (predecessor to the W2RC) in 2021. His father Marek, now a racing coach, is the 2008 FIM Cross-Country World Champion and raced at Dakar on a bike from 2000 to 2013.
Dąbrowski is the second racer to withdraw from Dakar 2023 in the past week for medical reasons after T3 driver Yasmeen Koloc did so due to a wrist injury sustained in a 24H Series crash. In T1, Yazeed Al-Rajhi‘s co-driver Michael Orr also had to step aside due to leg fractures he suffered at Baja Poland.
While unable to field Dąbrowski, DUUST will still have two Rally2 bikes for Americans Jacob Argubright and friend of The Checkered Flag Ace Nilson.
