Dakar Legends - Thierry Sabine

Forty years ago, on the evening of 14th January 1986, several kilometres from Gourma Rharous in Mali, the Dakar lost its founder in a helicopter crash. The aircraft, piloted by François-Xavier Bagnoud, was carrying Thierry Sabine as well as French singer Daniel Balavoine, journalist Nathalie Odent and radio-technician Jean-Paul Le Fur. In spite of all the members of the bivouac reeling in shock at this accident and morale being at rock bottom, the rally reached the Senegalese capital through great suffering and the Dakar has since continued to perpetuate his famous motto across the continents: “A challenge for those who go, a dream for those who stay behind”.