Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ - 00 0") Riders head into the Te nere desert. which was considered the toughest part of the Paris-Dakar ra lly. Severe sand storms added to the difficulty. Seventh annual Paris-Dakar Ralll Rahier victorious again By Rex Reese PARI S, FRANCE / DAKAR , SENE G AL, J AN . 1-22 In a n almost-unbelievable co m e- frombehind ride, three-time 125cc Motocross World Champion G aston Rahier piloted h is battered T eam BMW/ Marl boro/ P laybo y 980cc G IS La hi s seco n dstraigh t win of th e gruel in g, 6500-mile Paris-Daka r off-road rally. The diminutive Belgia n 's , ", 14 win was a ll th e mor e rem arkable because Ra h ier's r ide al mos t ended as soo n as it began - a head-on co lli sio n wi th a mot or ist o u tside Pa ris left him with a badl y dam aged - but still rideabl e - machine. Rah ier th en fough t hi s wa y up th rough the field and surprised everybo dy a t the fin ish by wi n n ing th e rall y with a n ela psed tim e of 88 hours, 42 minu tes, an d one seco nd. Fren ch rider J ean -C laude Oliver (Ya m) wa s seco nd with a time o f 89:53:03. America n rider Ch uck Stea rns, sponsored by Son auto , th e Fre nc h Yamaha im porter, in hi s first Paris-Dakar race, pl aced a credi ble sixt h overa ll with a ti me o f 92:10:50. Rahier 's win was also BMW 's fourth Paris-Daka r Ra lly victory in five tries. Bu t hi s m isfortune encou raged racewa tch ers to pl ace their bets on mor e lik ely winners, among them Fren ch rid er Serge Bacou (Ya m), wh o wa s an early leader until he dropped out, a nd P icco (Yam ), wh o led a lmost to th e end. Yet, even u pto the fin al days of th e three-week-long race, Rah ier's cha nces o f wi n n ing, much less fin ish ing, seemed sli m . Fo r Team BMW a nd many o the r tea ms and individua l riders entered in th e rally, Pa ris-Da kar is serio us busin ess. T he manufactu rer who wins thi s event can bank on seeing increased mo to rcycle sa les, since Paris-Dak ar had earned itse lf the repu tation of bei ng not o n ly th e toughest o rr-roa d race in th e wo rld, bu t a lso th e most prestigi ous. T herefore, he who wins Paris-Dak ar a lso wi ns ex tra ma rket share. Bu t that 's easier said tha n done. Pr eparin g fo r Pari s-Dak ar is a lso serious raci ng, and those entered (well, mostly everybody) gear u p for the event wi th a ll the meti cul ousn ess o f a maj or military campaign. R iders pilot spec ia lly -p repa red a n d eq u ip pe d hikes, wh ich fea tur e g ia n t-ca paci ty gas tanks, ext ra -brigh t hal ogen headlights, modified frames to hold up under cons ta nt pounding , a nd handbuilt engines . Besides ca rry ing ext ra spa re pa rts, gas a nd o il, all ent ra nts are requ ired to tak e with th em a su rviva l kit a nd p ro visions for two days, just in case they get lost. And many do. Backing a ll of th is u p a re su pport vans, su pport pl an es a nd helicopters, mecha n ics, doctors, spa re parts a nd mor e spare pa rts. Yet n on e o f th e elabora te preparatio ns a nd precaution s ta ken for P aris-Da kar ca n g ua ra ntee success, o n ly a figh tin g cha nce . All it ta kes to spell defeat is o ne mo re big roc k to break th e last spare w heel, o ne last twea k in th e frame wh ich defies fixi n g (ch angin g frames was p roh ib ited thi s year), or havin g the rider brea k a part of hi s bod y. T his doesn 't incl ude ge tt ing lost , ru n n ing o ut o f gas, in sufferabl e hea t a nd co ld, end less stre tches o f sa n d, immen se dust storms, o r even armed in su rrecti on . T wo peo ple were killed when thei r su p port ai rp la ne was shot down by gue rillas in Mauritania, and a Briti sh entrant was o ut o f th e race a fter he was a lmost picked clea n by robbers. Racin g got underw ay at 7:00 a .rn.. Ne w Year's Da y, in Paris a t a sta rt ing po int near the Ei ££e1 Tower, Besid es the 300 or so cars an d trucks also entered, 148 solo mot or cycle riders, 15 side hack teams, a nd th ree AT Vs were £lagged o ff o n th eir lon g journey to advent u re a nd, maybe, g lory. T he weather at th e sta rt was ch illy , not un usual for late winter in Europe. But it would a ll en d over 6000 m iles, o ne ocea n cross ing, half a co n tine n t a nd 22 da ys la ter in th e swelte ring heat o f Da ka r, Senega l. T his is a pl ace o n th e west coa st o f Africa were both motorcycles and sufficient calor ic intak e a re equa lly ra re. O nl y 25 bikes ' mad e it all th e wa y. J o inin g R a h ier o n th e fa ctory BMWs were Fren chman Raymo nd Loi zeaux and German ride r Eddy H au, bo th o fw hom -also su ffered di s- , as ters, forcin g th em to reti re from the race, leaving just the Belgi an to ca rry o n . Also fielding maj or teams were Cagiva, th e Fren ch an d Italia n Yam a h a impo r ter s. a n d H onda France. Th e rest ofthe field was mad e up of privateers, ra ngin g from welleq u ip ped, privat ely-sponsored teams, to riders who were sponsoring th emselves. Once under wa y o u t o f Paris, riders spe nt th e first da y o f th e race making a wide-o pen run due sou th to th e Mediterranean port city o f Marseill e. From there, it wou ld be a two-da y sea -cross ing to Alg iers, cap ita l. o f Algeria, in north Africa . But a lready Rahier was in big troubl e. He was able to m iracu lo usly walk away fro m a head-on cras h wi th a car just hours a fter hi s sta rt, but hi s fa ctory BMW was a mess, with bent fo rk s a nd frame. It wou ld have been no p roblem to have th e support tea m fix Rah ier 's bike, but they were a lrea dy o n th e wa ter a nd wou ld be waitin g for him in Algeri a. Rah ier had no o p tion but to get back o n h is bik e a n d ride it th e best he co u ld, wh ich was with grea t d ifficul ty. It d idn 't handle a tall,and the former World MX Champ spe nt most of th e ride- to Mar seille crashi ng a nd getting back o rr the ground. -The nea r-d isa ster of the first da y back in France wasn 't mad e any better by a sha ky boat rid e ac ross the. stormy Mediterranean sea. Once in Alger ia, Rah ier an d a ll other entrants th en had to end ure wh a t wo u ld be the first o f severa l border cross ings and customs , inspections as they-crossed .

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