DISASTERS HIT SECOND STAGE
Page 38

If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE SECOND half of the Paris-Dakar rally turned to disaster for leading competitors and organisers alike last week. Rally organiser Thierry Sabine and four others died in a helicopter crash in Mali soon after the re-start. And the triumphant run of the Daf TurboTwin came to an end on Saturday when a desperate drive by Jan de Rooy to make up a 10-hour penalty ended in an axle-destroying pot-hole.
Capito's MercedesBenz Unimog also retired because of the difficult conditions, leaving the trucks class (as we went to press on Tuesday) firmly in the hands of Groine's Mercedes-Benz 1936. At that stage, the Porsches which had dominated what may be the last of these dramatic rallies were still well in front in the overall classification.