VOL. 53 ISSUE 15 APRIL 19, 2016 P75
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
"THE FUTURE
BELONGS TO THE
NEW WAVE OF
SPEEDSTERS: PRICE,
SAM SUNDERLAND,
MATTHIAS WALKNER,
ANTIONE MEO,
KEVIN BENEVIDES
AND CALIFORNIAN
RICKY BRABEC."
As promoter and benefactor,
Thierry Sabine shot to fame
and fortune. When he died in
a helicopter accident in 1986,
the Paris-based Amuary Sport
Organisation quickly took
control, trademarking the name
Dakar, consolidating the global
TV rights, and placing former
race-winner Hubert Auriol in
command of an event in which
the French retained a strangle-
hold, amassing an incredible
19 motorcycle victories in 22
years.
Unless would-be competi-
tors lived within stone's throw
of the Mediterranean Sea, the
expense and logistics of par-
ticipating in Le Dakar proved
insurmountable and, while the
event was referred to in awe by
Price (left) and
his great friend,
the late Kurt
Caselli. The
Aussie credits
the American
for much of his
Dakar success.
