Meoni death haunts Dakar

The two-wheeled Dakar Rally resumes today after a day of mourning for the late former champion Fabrizio Meoni.

The Italian, who won the event twice, was killed on Tuesday in a crash and his fellow riders asked for yesterday off as a mark of respect.

They were airlifted to Mali for today’s 13th stage but despite time to contemplate events, Meoni’s death is still troubling many of the riders.

Isidre Esteve, who lies third overall, witnessed the fatal crash and still finds it hard to believe it claimed the life of one of the Dakar Rally’s greatest riders.

He said: “It was an incredible accident because we sometimes are really fast in the desert without taking any risk. But we were all riding together, slowly because navigation was very difficult.

“Fabrizio fell right in front of me and I was sure that nothing serious had happened. Unfortunately it was not like that.

“We asked for a rest day as a sign of respect towards Fabrizio and also for ourselves because we are not in condition to race. Eventually everybody understood.”

Former bike champion Joan Roma, who now competes for Mitsubishi in the car class, was critical of the route of this year’s event in the wake of Meoni’s death.

“This Dakar is not especially demanding and not nice,” he said. “The specials are not good and they are taking us through places that are worth nothing and where navigation is not the main issue, only loads of hours and camel grass.

“We know where we are going, but sometimes those who organise the race go a bit too far.”

In the car class, Stephane Peterhansel retained his overall yesterday as Giniel de Villiers took victory on stage 12.

De Villiers’ Nissan was the first car past the finish line at Bamako in Mali, completing the 586 kilometres from Kiffa in Mauritania in seven hours 20 minutes 58 seconds.

Peterhansel brought his Mitsubishi home just over three minutes later to extend his overall advantage.

The Frenchman’s chief rival, team-mate Luc Alphand, finished yesterday’s stage in third place, losing further ground on the leader.

Volkswagen’s Jutta Kleinschmidt lost further ground on the leaders when she finished sixth on yesterday’s stage, although she still lies third overall.

De Villiers is in fourth place after his first stage win of the rally while Bruno Saby holds fifth for Volkswagen and Roma sixth in a Mitsubishi.