Danilo Petrucci’s 2022 Dakar dream is over after his works-backed KTM gave up the ghost early on day three.

The burly Italian got 115km into the stage before his steed stopped working and he was forced to request an airlidft.

“It was exciting until the technical issue because I was fighting for the top five - I think I was in third position  at that moment - and I was having a lot of fun because the route was very fast," said Petrucci.

"I had caught two of the riders in front of me, pushing for 20-30 km on full throttle and it was very cool to go up to 150km/h on flat ground.

"I will try to restart tomorrow even if I know I will not be competing for the final standings.”