Houlihan suffered rib fractures in stage five of the gruelling event in Saudi Arabia and was ruled out by medical officials.

He had made a strong start to the stage to work his way up to 62^nd position, but misjudged a small section with a deep hole, which badly jarred his upper body.

"The Dakar officials and medical team probably made the correct decision to cut my race short," he said.

"I went into the race knowing the full extent of the fractures and am just thankful that I did not have an accident that could have had dire consequences.

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"It may not have been the right decision to even start the race but I have no regrets and enjoyed the first five days of this torturous race and pushed myself as hard as possible."

Houlihan, from Albury in the NSW-Victorian border region, and his wife, Katie, will stay for the remainder of the rally to support teammates Pablo Guillen and Vasileios Boudros.