ROSARIO: Poor weather has forced the cancellation of Sunday’s Dakar Rally opening stage because of safety concerns, race director Etienne Lavigne told AFP, a day after ten people were injured when a car crashed into spectators.

Thunderstorms and heavy rain prompted organisers to scrap the scheduled 600-kilometre plus route from Rosario to Villa Carlos Paz, with the conditions grounding safety helicopters and leaving parts of the course flooded.

The 38th edition of the Dakar Rally, which will cover more than 9,300km across Argentina and Bolivia, commenced with Saturday’s prologue which was “neutralised” and then immediately suspended after a crash involving the Mini of Chinese driver Guo Meiling left 10 people hurt.