Editing Dakar Rally (section)

==Incidents==
{{main|List of Dakar Rally fatal accidents}}
In 1982, [[Mark Thatcher]], son of the then [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]], along with his French co-driver [[Anny-Charlotte Verney]] and their mechanic, disappeared for six days. On 9 January, the trio became separated from a convoy of vehicles after they stopped to make repairs to a faulty [[steering|steering arm]]. They were declared missing on 12 January. After a large-scale search was instigated, an [[Military of Algeria|Algerian military]] [[Lockheed L-100]] (a version of the [[C-130 Hercules]]) search plane spotted their white [[Peugeot 504]] some {{convert|50|km}} off course. Thatcher, Verney, and the mechanic were all unharmed.

The organiser of the rally, [[Thierry Sabine]], was killed when his [[Ecureuil]] helicopter ("Squirrel-copter") crashed at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. on Tuesday 14 January 1986, into a dune at Mali during a sudden sand-storm. Also killed onboard was the singer-songwriter [[Daniel Balavoine]], helicopter pilot François-Xavier Bagnoud, journalist Nathalie Odent, and Jean-Paul Lefur who was a radiophonic engineer for French radio broadcaster [[RTL (French radio)|RTL (formerly Radio Luxembourg)]].<ref>{{cite web|author=The Motorsport Memorial Team|url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=3580 |title=Motorsport Memorial |publisher=Motorsport Memorial |access-date=2011-08-08}}</ref>

Six people were killed during the 1988 race, three participants and three local residents. In one incident, Baye Sibi, a 10-year-old Malian girl, was killed by a racer while she crossed a road. A film crew's vehicle killed a mother and daughter in [[Mauritania]] on the last day of the race. The race participants killed, in three separate crashes, were a Dutch navigator on the [[DAF Trucks]] team, a French [[privateer (motorsport)|privateer]], and a French [[motorcycle|rider]]. Racers were also blamed for starting a [[wildfire]] that caused a panic on a train running between Dakar and [[Bamako]], where three more people were killed.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brown |first=Robert Carlton |date=1988-02-01 |title=Disastrous days in the desert |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |volume=68 |issue=5 |pages=20(4)}}</ref>

In 2003, French driver Daniel Nebot both rolled and crashed his Toyota heavily at high speed killing his co-driver Bruno Cauvy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-70955196.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511201230/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-70955196.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-05-11 |title=French Driver Dies in Paris-Dakar Rally |publisher=  AP Online |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=The Motorsport Memorial Team|url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=1715 |title=Motorsport Memorial |publisher=Motorsport Memorial |access-date=2011-08-08}}</ref>

In 2005, Spanish motorcyclist [[José Manuel Pérez (motorcyclist)|José Manuel Pérez]] died in a Spanish hospital on Monday 10 January after crashing the week before on the 7th stage. Italian motorcyclist [[Fabrizio Meoni]], a two-time winner of the event, became the second Dakar Rally rider to die in two days, following Pérez on 11 January on stage 11. Meoni was the 11th motorcyclist and the 45th person overall to die in the history of the race. On 13 January a five-year-old [[Senegal]]ese girl was hit and killed by a [[service lorry]] after wandering onto a main road, bringing the total deaths to five.

In 2006, 41-year-old Australian [[KTM]] motorcyclist [[Andy Caldecott]], in his third time in the Dakar, died on 9 January as a result of neck injuries sustained in a crash approximately {{convert|250|km}} into stage 9, between [[Nouakchott]] and [[Kiffa]], only a few kilometers (miles) from the location where Meoni had his fatal wreck the year before. He won the third stage of the 2006 event between [[Nador]] and [[Er Rachidia]] only a few days before his death. The death occurred despite efforts by the event organisers to improve competitor safety, including limiting speed, mandatory rest at fuel stops, and reduced fuel tank capacity for the bike classes. On 13 January a 10-year-old boy died while crossing the course after being hit by a car driven by Latvian [[Māris Saukāns]], while on 14 January a 12-year-old boy was killed after being hit by a support lorry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Second boy dies during Dakar |url=http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3065770 |publisher=motoring.co.za |date=2006-01-14 |access-date=2008-01-04 }}</ref>

In 2007, 29-year-old South African motor racer [[Elmer Symons]] died of injuries sustained in a crash during the fourth stage of the Rally. Symons crashed with his bike in the desert between [[Er Rachidia]] and [[Ouarzazate]], Morocco.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070113021750/http://www.eurosport.co.uk/rallyraid/dakar/2007/sport_sto1050160.shtml |archive-date=January 13, 2007 |title=Symons dies after crash |url=http://www.eurosport.co.uk/rallyraid/dakar/2007/sport_sto1050160.shtml |date=January 1, 2007 |publisher=eurosport.co.uk |access-date=March 1, 2016}}</ref> Another death occurred on 20 January, the night before the race's finish, when 42-year-old motorcyclist Eric Aubijoux died suddenly. The cause of death was initially believed to be a heart attack,<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rallying-dakar-idUSLA56190920070120 |title=Dakar hit by second death on eve of finish |newspaper=Reuters |date=2007-01-20 |location=Dakar }}</ref> but it was later suggested that Aubijoux had died of internal injuries sustained in a crash earlier that day while competing in the 14th stage of the race.

The [[2008 Dakar Rally]] was cancelled due to security concerns after [[al-Qaeda]]'s murder of four French tourists on Christmas Eve in December 2007 in Mauritania (a country in which the rally spent eight days), various accusations against the rally calling it "neo-colonialist", and al-Qaeda's accusations against Mauritania calling it a supporter of "crusaders, apostates and infidels". The French-based [[Amaury Sport Organisation]] in charge of the {{convert|6000|km|mi|-2|adj=on}} rally said in a statement that they had been advised by the French government to cancel the race, which had been due to begin on 5 January 2008 from Lisbon. They said direct threats had also been made against the event by al-Qaeda related organisations.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN648110.html | work=Reuters | title=News – Africa | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108151924/http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN648110.html | archive-date=2008-01-08 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=673196|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223164633/http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=673196|url-status=dead|title=The Times – Article|archivedate=December 23, 2008}}</ref>

[[Omar Osama bin Laden]], the son of [[Osama bin Laden]], attracted news coverage in 2008 by promoting himself as an "ambassador of peace" and proposing a {{convert|3000|mi|km|adj=on}} horse race across North Africa as a replacement to the Dakar Rally, with sponsors' money going to support child victims of war, saying ''"I heard the rally was stopped because of al-Qaida.  I don't think they are going to stop me."''<ref name="Schemm">{{cite web |last=Florer |first=John |date=2024-01-23 |title=Audi Makes History at the Dakar Rally |url=https://audispeed.com/audi-makes-history-at-the-dakar-rally/ |website=AudiSpeed}}</ref>

On 7 January 2009, the body of 49-year-old motorcyclist [[Pascal Terry]] from France was found. He had been missing for three days and his body lay on a remote part of the second stage between Santa Rosa de la Pampa and Puerto Madryn.

On 4 January 2010, a woman watching the Dakar Rally was killed when a vehicle taking part in the race veered off the course and hit her during the opening stage.

On 1 January 2012, motorcyclist Jorge Martinez Boero of Argentina died after suffering a cardiac arrest after a fall. He was treated by medical staff within five minutes of the accident, but died on the way to hospital.

On 7 January 2015, motorcycle rider Michal Hernik died in unknown circumstances during Stage 3 of the 2015 rally.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/01/07/polish-rider-dies-in-argentina-during-dakar-rally/ | work=Fox News | title=Polish rider dies in Argentina during Dakar Rally | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112135314/http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/01/07/polish-rider-dies-in-argentina-during-dakar-rally/ | archive-date=2015-01-12 }}</ref>

On 12 January 2020, Portuguese motorcycle rider [[Paulo Gonçalves (motorcyclist)|Paulo Gonçalves]] died after suffering a heart attack due to a crash on the seventh stage.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.dakar.com/en/news/2020/portuguese-rider-paulo-goncalves-passed-away-1/165577 | title = Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves passed away | date = January 12, 2020 | work = Dakar | access-date = January 12, 2020}}</ref>

On 15 January 2021, motorcyclist Pierre Cherpin of France died. The 52-year-old Frenchman fell off his motorcycle on 10 January, and a rescue team in a helicopter found him unconscious in the desert. He was rushed to a hospital in Saudi Arabia where he was treated for his injuries. He sustained serious head injuries and cracked ribs, and one of his lungs also collapsed.  Cherpin underwent emergency neurosurgery and was placed in an artificial coma. Doctors were initially optimistic about his recovery path and there were no complications after the surgery. He died during the medical transfer from Jeddah to France.

Overall, 76 people, including 31 competitors, have died in the Dakar Rally.