Luca Manca (born c. 1980) is an Italian motorcycle racer who competes in

rally raid Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...

events. Manca has won stages of the

Rallye des Pharaons The Rallye des Pharaons (French for "Pharaohs Rally") was a rally-raid event that took place in Egypt between 1982 and 2015. Cairo was both the starting and finishing point at the foot of the pyramids of Giza, and the rally covered roughly around . ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and also has competed in the Dakar Rally and

Rally d'Italia Sardegna The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). Characteristics ...

. On 7 January 2010, near Antofagasta,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, Manca was involved in a serious accident. He was approximately into the sixth stage of the

2010 Dakar Rally The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South ...

while riding his

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

. He suffered a

brain contusion Cerebral contusion, Latin ''contusio cerebri'', a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be associated with multiple microhemorrhages, small blood vessel leaks into ...

in the accident, and was transferred by helicopter to Hospital del Cobre Dr. Salvador Allende Gossens in

Calama, Chile Calama is a city and commune in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. It is the capital of El Loa Province, part of the Antofagasta Region. Calama is one of the driest cities in the world with average annual precipitation of just . The River Loa, ...

, before being transferred to the neuro-surgical unit of Clínica de la Mutual de Seguridad in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

. This came a day after Manca had generously surrendered his rear wheel to defending champion Marc Coma when his fellow KTM rider's tire burst. Manca was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator. By 15 January 2010 Manca was breathing on his own and speaking with family members.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manca, Luca Living people Italian motorcycle racers Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)