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| Thursday, 13 January 2005 |
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Meoni death overshadows Dakar Rally DAKAR, Wednesday (AFP) The death of Italian motorcyclist Fabrizio Meoni - a two-time Dakar winner - overshadowed the 11th stage of the Dakar Rally here Tuesday, won by Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt, driving a Volkswagen, and Spain's Marc Coma, riding a KTM. Meoni, a Dakar Rally winner in 2001 and 2002 and who was in second place in the overall bike standings, died of a heart attack after a crash, organisers said. "We sent a helicopter when he fell and they found his heart had stopped. Sadly, they were unable to revive him," said rally director Etienne Lavigne. The Italian motorcycle rider was 47. He leaves a widow and two children. "The entire Dakar caravan wishes to express its sincere condolences to his family, his friends and his many admirers." His death came a day after Spanish rider Jose Manuel Perez, 41, died of injuries sustained in a crash last week. There have been 22 deaths since the rally started 27 years ago. Organisers later announced that the motorbike section of the 12th stage on Wednesday - a gruelling 819km run, with a 586km timed special, from Kiffa to Bamako, the capital of Mali - had been cancelled at the behest of the riders out of respect for Meoni. "To pay tribute to Fabrizio, the riders don't want to race tomorrow. It's a choice that I can understand and respect, even if it's not mine. They will be taken to Bamako by plane," said Lavigne. Frenchman David Fretigne, who was one of the first to come to Meoni's crash site, echoed comments by other riders that the area where the Italian crashed was not a fast part of the special, which had been cut by 256km because of adverse weather conditions. |
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