Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ • el· ~ ~ 00 0') .-4 . t- c-r ..!:: u l-< ro ~ (Above) Riders rode through some sections in groups. for safety, (Below) Motorcycles actually beat the cars on elapsed time. (Above) Gaston Rahier rode a BMW to his second consecutive victory. (Below) Franco Picco (8 3 ) and And rea Marinoni begin another day . (Below ) The Ligier Cagiva Elefant 750 featured a massive 16-gallon gas tank. Hubert Auriol rode it to eighth place; he was in third near Timbuktu. \ from one co u nt ry to a nother. At this point Rah ier was down abou t three hours and 30 pl aces o n th e lead er, who wa s Honda France rid er j ea n-Miche l Baron . Attempts were made to straighten out Rahier's bike by the BMW mech ani cs, but nothing really worked. Then, to add furth er gloom to the situa tion , as th e ra ce progressed to the n ext stop, Ouargla, both Hau and Lo izeaux injured them selv es in cras hes, forcing them to retire. But things were slo w ly beginning 10 look hopeful. As th e rally wore o n , the field quickl y began 10 thin out; additionall y, Rah ier 's problems wer e slow ly being solved and h e wa s abl e to make time on the lead . Th e picture up front began cha ngin g as well when front-runner Baron cras hed out of the ra ce with a broken co lla rbo n e, handing over th e lead 10 T eam Gau' loises Yamaha rider Bacou on dav five. Bacou remained in co m ma lid for the next several da vs as th e race pa ssed th rough Al geri a th en int o Niger. At Agad ez on da y 10. a bo u t half o f th e m otorcycl e entr ies were history, whi ch was probabl y j us t as well, because .the.reall y ha rd raci ng was j ust beginn in g , H ere. th e rally depart ed from its regular co urse to tak e a loop th rough th e T en ere desert , a pl ace so h ot, with so much sa n d, locals call it th e " desert of deserts ." This year, as p art of th e ra lly's strategy , riders had to bring al ong a co m pass 10 h elp get th em a long. For Bacou, it was, unfortunately, his defective co m pass which led him astray in th e desolate Tenere. By the tim e h e returned to Agad ez, Bacou wa s hot a n d tired , o ff th e p ace a nd out of th e lead . Pi cco was now in front . The rally ro lle d westward into th e co u nt ry of Mali a nd th e leg endary city o f T'irnbuktu . Racers trudged onward through m ore vast desert, but were suddenl y stopped by a horrific storm, forcing every body to seek shelter in a sm a ll ca nyo n for 24 hours before th e 75 mph ga le blew over. Once th ings got moving again. Rahier had advanced 10 wi th in 45 min utes of Pi cco ; third was Cagiva rider Hubert Auriol. Stearns had spent most o f th e rare -ridi ng co nsis tent ly a nd pati entl y. even w in n ing so me o f th e daily " stages " whi ch made up Pa ris-Dakar. puu ing h im self in th e top six or seven overa ll posirions .v- -.- Another brief sandstorm made more entra nts drop o u t as rid ers mad e th eir way int o Mauritania which led up 10 th e fin al stages o f th e rally. Picco . wh o was beg inning to feel the pressure from Rah ier ga in ing on h im, fin all y blew his lead by be in g p enalized for mi ssing a ch ec k. Now Rahier was th e leader. Whil e he cro ssed th e deserted wastela nd s of thi s nort h Afr ican country. Ra h ier and Stearns became alli es for th e ba lance o f the ra lly, as th ey dug each o the r' s bikes out o f the sa n d dunes. Th e two r iders kept within sight o f eac h ot her as th ey wicked it throu gh Mali an d th en , finall y, into Se nega l, After h u n dreds o f mil es o f blazing h eat , choking sa nd , d isorient ing terra in , sto rms, a nd stra nge peop le, th e fina l 30 m iles from the sma ll Sen egalese to wn of Sali to th e beach north o f Dak ar was a ca kewa lk. In fact, S tea rns cru ised o n a hea d of R ah ier 10 win th e final stage o f Pa risDak ar 10 secu re himself sixth place. But th e ra ce wa s Rahi er 's. H e h ad beaten th e tracksid e cvn ics as well as his com pe tition. H e h~d made' it when others co u ld n ' t, Still. he wa s th e gracio u s ch ampion, say ing , " An ybody who made it to Dakar this year deserves to be treated like a win n er." The 24 other riders wh o did pr obab• ly wouldn' t dis agree. Results I . Gaston Rahier (BMW ) 8 B:45 :01 ; 2 . JeanClaude Ottvier (Yam) 89 :42 :41; 3. Franco Picco (Vam) B9 :53:03 : 4 . Andrea Marinoni (Vam)91 :50:0 3; 5 . Cyril Neveu (Hon) 92 :10 :49 ; 6. Chuck Stearns (Vam )92;10 ;50; 7 . Francois Char liatlHon)93 ;57 ;29 ; 8 . Hubert A ur iol tCag) 94 ;12:41 ; 9 . Gregoire Verhaeghe (GRS ) 96 :28;52; 10. Chr ist ian Cou rt ois (Vam) 98 ;40;36.· 15

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