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De reply is geschreven door Blijhoofd (UserID 1283) op 11-1-2005 19:30.

Bron Eurosport:

Fabrizio Meoni dies after crash

Fabrizio Meoni has died after falling on stage 11 of the Dakar rally. Paramedics arrived within minutes, but the Italian died at the scene. The 47-year-old KTM rider was running second overall in the motorcycle category. Meoni won the Dakar rally twice, in 2001 and 2002.

Fabrizio Meoni Tribute Page
DAKAR: Disbelief at Meoni's death

Meoni crashed on the shortened 400km leg between Atar and Kiffa in Mauritania.

The incident occurred nine minutes after refuelling, at 185km, a point marked on the map with one danger exclamation mark because of its undulations.

Yamaha rider David Fretigne found Meoni and let off his distress beacon, sounding the call for medical help.

Race director Etienne Lavigne said: "He fell after checkpoint one at 10:15 (local time, 11:15CET). We sent a helicopter, which arrived at 10:36. His heart had stopped when we found him. Unfortunately, 45 minutes of resuscitation could not restart it."

He added: "We loved him deeply, it was someone who had had a big impact on the Dakar. He was a great guy, who loved a laugh. We're deeply saddened by this news.

His body was flown back to the race bivouac in Atar.

Meoni - who becomes the 22nd person to be killed in the race's 27-year history - had announced at the start line in Barcelona that this, his 13th Dakar, would be his last.

He leaves behind a wife, Elena, and two children, Gioele and Chiara, aged 14 and two.

His Gauloises KTM team may now pull out of the event, removing overall leader Cyril Despres from the running. Despres was a prot?g? of both Meoni and the late Richard Sainct.

Meoni's death comes only a day after moto amateur Manuel Perez died in a Spanish hospital following a fall on Stage 7, also in Mauritania.

"This shows the ugly side of the race. The Dakar rally is fascinating, it's part of our passion, but there are certain things you wish would never happen," Italian newspaper La Repubblica quoted Meoni as saying after Perez' death.

He is the second Dakar great to die in the last four months. Richard Sainct lost his life after crashing in the Pharaoh Rally in Egypt on September 29th 2004.

The pair were considered the finest riders of their generation. As well as his two Dakar wins, Meoni triumphed five times in the Pharaoh Rally between 1996 and 2001, four times in Tunisia, once in the Inca Rally and was all-terrain world champion in 2000.

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