Frenchman passes away in Dakar rally

January 8, 2009

Frenchman Pascal Terry has been found dead in the Dakar Rally.

The 49-year-old was found at 2:10am on January 7 in an isolated area in the middle of dense vegetation. He was 15m from his bike, and had taken his helmet off and had sought shade. He also had food and water with him.

An autopsy has revaeled he died of a pulmonary edema, which is swelling and/or fluid accumulation in the lungs.

Questions are now being asked why it took so long to locate Terry, who may have survived if found earlier.

The death has cast a pall over the event, which is being held in South America for the first time.

While an investigation is being launched into Terry's death, Marc Coma still leads, although American Johan Street made huge inroads into the Spaniard's lead in the 506km stage five.

Coma now leads by 27 minutes, down from 42, with Yamaha's David Fretigne in third - the only non-KTM rider in the top 11 positions.

Of the three Aussies in the rally, BMW's Simon Pavey is the best placed in 45th, ahead of KTM duo Christophe Barriere Varju (66th) and David Schwarz (69th).

Both Pavey and Barriere Varju made up positions on day five, while Schwarz plummeted 51 spots after striking difficulty.

So far, there have been 43 retirements.

Pavey, an expatriate Aussie, currently manages BMW's off-road training facility in Wales, and he gained international recognition a few years back when he trained Charley Boorman to compete in the Lisbon to Dakar Rally, which was shown in the television series Race to Dakar.

Read Pavey's blog from the Dakar by clicking here, and Barriere Varju's by clicking here.

Pic: Barriere Varju