Eight times the Dakar Rally proved to be difficult and dangerous

Navigating by paper road books across miles of rugged and desolate terrain carries a real risk – of collision, injury, disorientation and mechanical failure to name just a few.

Stages can range from 300km to 900km and pilots are in the saddle/seat for more than 12 hours a day, with just a few enforced 15 minute fuel stops. In previous South American editions, temperatures have reached 45 degrees Celsius and altitudes in excess of 5,000 metres. While the highest point of this year’s Saudi Arabian course will pale in comparison at 1,500 metres, temperatures are likely to be equally as extreme, and combined with the incredibly physical nature of the rally, fatigue is frequent.

When teams arrive back in the bivouac each night evening they are faced hours of roadbook marking for the next day, before prepping their food and kit for the following day. Those with support teams can get a helping hand with this, while competitors in the Original by Motul class must do it all by themselves.

Those are just some of the variables for which the 500-plus competitors in this year’s event are prepared, with months of training behind them and a steely determination to cross the finish line, 12 days and 7,500km later.

However, no amount of preparation and training can completely negate the unpredictability of the desert, and often fate cruelly dictates disaster for even the most qualified of competitors. Here are eight examples of Dakar disaster.

1982 – A desert odyssey

1979 saw not only the inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally but also the start of Margaret Thatcher’s rule as British Prime Minister. Unsurprising, the two remained completely unconnected – until, that was, the fourth edition in 1982, into which the PM’s son, Mark, entered.

The last thing you want as a Prime Minister about to enter your second term is an international scandal marring your name. And with the burgeoning conflict in the Falklands, the last thing you need is the distraction of an international search and rescue mission for your entitled offspring. But that’s exactly what her 29-year-old son caused when his Peugeot 504 went missing in the Sahara Desert, with Mark, his French co-driver, Anne-Charlotte Verney, and their mechanic, Jackie, onboard. 

After six days and a search involving four countries, planes and helicopters, the trio were found by the Algerian military. Needless to say, elder Thatcher was mortified, and keen to avoid a public backlash over the use of taxpayers' money in the mission. Documents released to the National Archives in Kew in 2012 reveal how she paid £1,784.80 following private discussions between Number 10 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about whether the cost of the search should be covered by the public purse – a subject of great interest to MPs and journalists at the time.

1986 – Helicopter crash

One of the saddest moments in Dakar history was 1986, which later became known as the Black Year. On January 14^th 1986, a helicopter crash killed the rally’s founder Thierry Sabine and four others including French popstar Daniel Balavoine, who had competed in the previous year’s event, François-Xavier Bagnoud (HSH Albert II, Prince of Monaco's cousin), reporter Nathaly Odent and her cameraman, Jean-Paul Le Fur.

The group were reportedly on the way to a local football match aboard Sabine’s Ecureuil helicopter when it encountered a sudden sand storm and crashed into a dune in Mali.

1988 – Ari Vatanen’s car stolen from behind a sand dune

Perhaps the most bizarre of Dakar disasters and one that cost Ari Vatanen the 1988 title was when his works Peugeot 205 T16 mysteriously disappeared overnight, reportedly taken from ‘behind a sand dune’.

Much of that year’s media focus had been on the 1987 Dakar winner and 1981 World Rally Champion Vatanen, who only 18 months before, had been in hospital on life support following a huge crash on a world championship event in Argentina.

But with victory in sight for the Finn, Vatanen and co-driver Bruno Berglunds’ car just disappeared into thin air. The vehicles were parked overnight in a football stadium, with locals allowed to wander freely among them. Vatanen and Berglund got some scoff before retiring in the caravan park and woke to find their car missing, reportedly having been seen driven out of the compound during the night.

Peugeot team principal Jean Todt then claimed to have been contacted with a ransom demand of US$90,000 for its return. But miraculously, the car reappeared in parc fermé minutes ahead of following day’s stage start, allowing the crew to continue towards what would have been Vatanen’s second consecutive win. However, Vatanen’s hopes were dashed when organisers decided that, due to the crew not being at the start 30 mins before their scheduled departure time, they had broken the rules and so must withdraw from the competition, handing victory to team-mate Kankkunen.

Ever since, the real reason for the car’s disappearance has been hotly debated. That locals could really have started the complicated car and snuck it out of the compound almost unnoticed begged belief, and instead rumours circulated that it was a staged 'theft' to allow the team extra time to fix a possible engine problem.

1996 – Truck hits a landmine

Another sad Dakar disaster occurred in 1996 when a Citroën support truck driven by Laurent Gueguen hit a mine close to the route in southern Morocco, killing the Frenchman. The mine was a left behind from the 1976-89 war in the Western Sahara, and the accident occurred between Foum el Hassan and Smara, 157km into the 474km fifth stage of the 7,600km event. His co-drivers were also injured in the explosion that destroyed their Mercedes lorry.

2008 – Terrorist threat cancels event

The first chapter of the 2008 Dakar came to an abrupt end when a heightened terrorist threat in Western Africa forced that year’s event to be cancelled out of fears for the competitors’ safety. With just one day to go before the start of the 30^th anniversary edition, the French Government pressured organisers Amuary Sport Organisation to put a stop to the event. More than 500 cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads were waiting at the start line and the cancellation was unprecedented in an international event of its size. However, with direct threats made against the rally by Al Qaeda and such a vast, unprotectable route, it would have been foolish to go ahead. However, this was only a temporary blip in the history of Dakar, with the race resuming in South America the following year.

2017 – weather caused stages to be cancelled

Equally as unpredictable as the rally itself, the weather during the January event can often cause chaos for competitors. Take the 2017 event, for example, during which incredible heavy rain over Bolivia turned stage six, from Oruro to La Paz, into a quagmire, forcing its cancellation. Stages five and eight were shortened significantly, and the route revised for stage seven.
And then a landslide as a result of the rain swept through it the village of Volcan in Argentina, forcing the cancellation of the ninth stage.

However, us Brits are accustomed to weather like this, and in the motorcycle standings KTM’s Sam Sunderland triumphed, becoming the first British rider to win the illustrious event.

2019 – Honda’s hopes haltered by engine failure

For almost two decades, KTM has ruled the motorcycle category, taking first place, and often locking out the podium, every year since 2001.

But in 2019, that all looked set to change, with Monster Energy Honda rider Ricky Brabec leading the race with just two stages left to go. However, in a heartbreaking repeat of 2018, the engine on his CRF450R Rally failed, forcing him to retire.

2020 – Romain Dumas fiery finish

And here’s one just in. Three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Goodwood hillclimb record holder Romain Dumas’s third Dakar was looking incredibly promising when he departed the startline yesterday. After a well-fought 2017 edition, he had made his RD Limited Peugeot 2008 DKR-derived DXX more competitive and was ready to give it his all. However just 65km after leaving the start, he was forced to retire when that very car went up in flames… Both he and his co-driver escaped unharmed.