The #258 Nissan Navara VK56 barely survived the chaotic opening stage of the Dakar Rally, but its race has come to an abrupt end after navigator Stephan Preuss was diagnosed with a concussion.

He and driver Markus Walcher endured a tumultuous Stage #1 on Saturday, finishing 142nd overall (61st in Ultimate) and arriving at the Bisha bivouac at night.

Preuss visited the doctors afterward for head pain, who performed CT scan before taking him to the hospital for an MRI. On Sunday morning, he could not be medically cleared in time for Stage #2.

Walcher Racing scrambled to find a replacement. With so many cars dropping out of the race on Saturday, the team considered bringing in one of the navigators from the retirements but was prohibited by FIA rule.

“We had no chance,” explained the team. “This is strictly forbidden according to the regulations. The organization has therefore no longer given us permission to start today despite our attempts; we have to finish the Dakar 2025 after the first stage.”

2025 was Walcher’s fourth time competing at Dakar and second in the Red-Lined Nissan Navara, finishing 42nd at his latest appearance in 2022. Preuss was a bike rider who made his debut and befriended Walcher at the 2022 edition. Last summer, they finished 16th in Ultimate at the Baja Aragón.

They had placed 63rd in class in the Prologue on Friday, a difficult task given they were in a T1.1 car while the route was optimized for the larger T1+ vehicles.

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI