In desert racing, just finishing a race is often a grueling feat, and this year’s Dakar Rally has already claimed a number of race favorites. 

Bryce Menzies, the best chance for an American to make it to the podium, dropped out of the race during the second stage, when he hit a bump going too fast and sent his MINI into a summersault.

Last year’s winner on a motorcycle, Sam Sunderland, retired during the third stage of the race due to back and leg pain after landing in a hole in the dunes. Sunderland was leading the race at the time. He was airlifted to hospital in Peru and is reported to be alright.

READ MORE: All the Ways to Follow the 40th Dakar Rally

Sebastien Loeb, the most accomplished World Rally Championship driver in the world, was off to a strong start, winning the fourth stage of the race and sitting in second in the standings, but a large hole in the dunes caused him to get stuck and his co-driver to get hurt, leading to him exiting the race. This was Loeb’s third try at winning the Dakar Rally.

One of the more interesting exits from the race happened during stage five, when Yazeed Al-Rajhi managed to get his MINI buggy stuck in the surf of the Pacific ocean. Our guess is that he got stuck at low tide so when the tide turned, his car flooded.

You can see Loeb’s exit in the video below along with footage of Al-Rajhi and his co-driver keeping their MINI from floating away.