Paris Dakar Rally

The Paris Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar") is an annual professional off-road race, currently sponsored by Total S.A. and organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race is open to amateur entries which usually make up about 80% of the participants.

Incidents

In 1982, Mark Thatcher, son of the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, along with his French co-driver Charlotte Verney and their mechanic, went missing in for six days. On January 9, the trio became separated from a convoy of vehicles after they stopped to make repairs to a faulty steering arm. They were declared missing on January 12; after a large-scale search, a C130 Hercules search plane from the Algerian military spotted their white Peugeot 504 some 50km off course. Thatcher, Verney and the mechanic were all unharmed.

Related Topics:
1982 - Mark Thatcher - British Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher - Charlotte Verney - January 9 - January 12 - C130 Hercules - Algerian military - Peugeot 504

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In 1986, the organiser of the rally, Thierry Sabine, died in a helicopter crash. It was one of the worst years in the history of the rally.

Related Topics:
1986 - Thierry Sabine

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In 1988, the DAF truck, which went faster than the fastest cars of the day, crashed, killing one of the drivers, causing DAF to retire from the race.

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In 2005, Spanish motorcyclist José Manuel Pérez died in a Spanish hospital on Monday, January 10 after crashing the week before on the 7th stage. Italian motorcyclist Fabrizio Meoni, a two-time winner of the event, became the second Dakar Rally rider to die in two days, following Pérez on January 11 on the 11th stage. Meoni was the 11th motorcyclist and the 45th competitor overall to die in the history of the race. On January 13, a five-year-old Senegalese girl was crushed beneath the wheels of a service lorry after wandering onto a main road, bringing the total deaths to five.

Related Topics:
2005 - José Manuel Pérez - January 10 - Fabrizio Meoni - January 11 - January 13

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