Sport in Short: Rallying

ALESSANDRO DE PETRI, the Italian rider, was seriously hurt in a crash in the desert during Egypt's Pharaoh's Rally. De Petri, 37, who won the 5,000- kilometre race two years ago, blew a tyre on his Yamaha bike and crashed in the desert on Monday, about 60km east of Assiut on the ninth day of the 10-day rally. He was flown to a hospital in Assiut, where his spleen was removed. Doctors said he had also suffered concussion and damage to his kidney.