Second Motorcyclist Dies at Dakar Rally

Topics:  Dakar Rally

Voice of America
January 11, 2005

For the second day in a row, a motorcylclist has lost his life as the result of a crash during the Dakar Rally.

Italian rider Fabrizio Meoni, who had been in second place overall behind France's Cyril Despres, was killed during Tuesday's 11th stage. The 47-year-old crashed 184 kilometers into the 695-kilometer stage between Atar and Kiffa in Mauritania. He won the motorcycle title of the Dakar Rally in both 2001 and 2002.

Organizers say Meoni died less than one hour after his crash.

His death comes one day after Spanish motorcyclist Jose Manuel Perez died in a Spanish hospital from injuries sustained in a crash last Thursday on the rally's seventh stage in Mauritania.

More than 30 people have died in conjunction with the Dakar Rally since it was first held in 1979. The event involves separate races for cars, trucks and motorcycles.

The rally covers eight thousand-956 kilometers from Barcelona, Spain, to Dakar, Senegal. It ends on January 16.

Some information provided by AP.