The Dakar Rally Stories - Fabrizio Meoni
Stories about the African Dakar Rally
My good friend Joe Barker sent me the video of Fabrizio Meoni’s son racing this year’s Dakar rally. Hearing his son talk about Fabrizio instantly brought back many memories—the following excerpt from my upcoming book about Fabrizio Meoni — The Real Stories of the Dakar Rally.
Stage 10 Atar to Atar - January 10th, 2005
Today’s stage would start and finish in the same place. The ASO plans certain starts from one bivouac and finish at the same place, which gives mechanics and crew much-needed breaks, and logistically, it saves time, money, and resources.
It was at this point in the rally I had befriended Fabrizio Meoni. He knew me from the 2004 Dakar and that I was the doctor of the US KTM team. We were able to converse in French, as my Italian is nonexistent. Meoni’s energy was infectious, and he’s such a prominent figure in the rally racing world they nicknamed him the “Lion of the Desert.” Scot Harden remarked, “Being next to the man was like being next to electricity.” He represented pure passion and commitment to rally racing; words don’t justify his character.
Fabrizio asked me to help him with his neck pain. Helping other riders is generally okay, although this would change. It was an honor to help him, and I was glad to do so. I massaged the knots out of his tight trapezius muscles and performed some osteopathic maneuvers. He thanked me for the help and then retired for the night, saying, “Merci beaucoup, doctor.” I remember wishing him good luck on the next stage, and he thanked me for the help. It was evident that Meoni was saddened by the death of Perez and said they were friends.
Stage 11 Atar to Kiffa - January 11th, 2005
Today’s special test was going to be challenging. Scot Harden, Chris Blais, and Kellon Walch were ready for this stage. We were all reeling from Jose Perez’s death, and the next stage was a long special test from Atar to Kiffa. Scot had severely pulled his groin muscle days earlier, and I taped his leg and gave him an emergency medication kit. I worked with Kellon and Chris, who were upbeat about today’s stage. Chris remarked that he was ready to move and had a plan. The support crews needed an early start and we departed the bivouac as soon as the competitors left. Getting to the next bivouac was challenging, even for the support vehicles. We had to traverse several kilometers of the race course, meaning we would be on dirt roads and traversing washes. We finally made it to the road; Scot’s mechanic, Elmer Symons, was driving, and I was gazing at the landscape, looking forward to when the rally would move to Mali. Out of nowhere, we heard over the radio that one of the motorcycles had crashed. Using our resources, we confirmed it wasn’t one of our guys. Then we heard it was Fabrizio Meoni. The crash was pretty bad. About an hour later, we learned that Fabrizio had lost his life, and we were instantly in shock. I thought about how I had just helped him the night before. No one had words as this loss had happened in our home and even more sadly just one day after Perez’s death.
Fabrizio Meoni died on Tuesday, January 11th, 2005, at 1111. The accident on the road book corresponded to kilometer 184. French rider David Fretingne stopped at 1007 for Meoni when he crashed. The ASO medical helicopter landed at 1036 next to Fabrizio. The doctors performed cardiac massage for 45 minutes in a vain attempt to save his life.
South African KTM rider Alfie Cox was riding behind him just before his crash. He said that when he stopped for Meoni, he was on the ground with an enormous amount of blood lost. He crashed in a relatively easy section, according to Scot and Alfie - rolling sandy whoops in a turn. Apparently, the front end of the motorcycle caught his neck in the crash, and he sustained a large wound that bled profusely. Alfie Cox, visibly shaken, described to me in detail what he saw when he rode past Meoni; he knew that he was dead. Everyone was in shock upon learning of his death. The atmosphere in the bivouac was that of deep sadness. I remember seeing Meoni’s longtime mechanic, Romeo, just in tears, shocked by the news. He left the next day.
Meoni was likely perplexed by several things during the 2005 Dakar. Certainly, the death of Perez was a major factor. Also, Meoni was deeply against the 20-kilometer GPS corridor imposed by the ASO organizers. Meoni knew Africa like the back of his hand. He organized summer adventure tours in Africa. He often won by large margins because he knew the terrain better. In a sense, the ASO took away his trump card by creating a new rule that forced the competitors to stay within a corridor. Previously, the rules didn’t care how a competitor got from point A to point B. For the competitors, the GPS was like “Big Brother,” always watching them. If you were lost, you could enter a secret code provided by the ASO, showing how to get to the next checkpoint; but the competitor would incur hefty penalties.
For years, Fabrizio Meoni had a formative influence on rally racing. He won the toughest rally in the world in 2001 and 2002 and departed for yet another Dakar Rally on New Year’s Eve, his 47th birthday. His 13th Dakar Rally was to become his last. He had already promised his family to stop racing altogether; he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two children. But once again, he wanted to endure the pain, riding on the edge; rally racing was his absolute passion. He rode his first rally in 1989. During his career, he won several rallies: 5 times in Egypt, 4 times in Tunisia, and one time in Dubai. But without a doubt, his greatest successes were the two Dakar victories in 2001 and 2002.
Fabrizio symbolized the ideal competitor. Meoni, like Sainct, knew the African landscape better than anyone, which is one reason why their deaths were so brutal to take. It’s hard to believe that this generation’s two best Rally racers (besides Stephan Peterhansel) are gone. We will never forget his birthday on New Year’s Eve in Barcelona. The room was full of balloons, and he burst all of them. He was just like a little boy. One wasn’t enough for him. He had to burst them all. Whatever Fabrizio did, he did it perfectly.
Fabrizio personified the Dakar rally; he lived it, and everyone looked up to him. He wasn’t satisfied with the simple, always looking for challenges, and always wanted to fight. One team manager stated, “He was such a nice guy, a friend. Fabrizio was a true Italian, one who knew how to live.” For many, he was a hero; it was incredible to see a man, 47 years old, in such a fantastic physical condition and such high spirits. Fabrizio was an incredible motorcycle rider and an extraordinary man. He was always open-minded and honest. Everyone who knew him just had to like him.
Following the Deaths of Richard Sainct and Fabrizio Meoni, KTM’s Heinz Kinigardner explains, “With Richard Sainct and Fabrizio Meoni, we have lost two of the best and most experienced rally riders on their jobs within the previous four months. Fabrizio had personified our idea of rally racing. He won many rallies. The Dakar rally is certainly no walk in the park.”
Fabrizio Meoni is the eleventh motorcycle rider in the history of the Dakar rally who has lost his life. In Italy, thousands attended his funeral. I remember watching the service, his wife in black, knowing that I had seen him the night before. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last time I would experience working with someone who would lose their life the next day.