The legacy of Thierry Sabine and the legendary Paris-Dakar Rally are a living part of the competition, thanks to a common history in which we also have as protagonist the Yamaha XT500 that the Frenchman rode in 1977 during the Coast-Coast rally. A desert test with more than 8,500 km of route between the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Nice, on the French Riviera.
During the course of it, the legendary French pilot, founder of the Enduro du Touquetthe largest enduro race in Europe and the longest sand race in the world, 15 kilometers long, ended up going off course and getting lost in the depths of the desert. For three days and four nights he wandered on foot, without water or food, after running out of gas on his motorcycle, which he had to leave abandoned.
Luckily, fortune was allied with Sabine, since he was found alive on January 14, 1977 by Jean-Michel Sinet, pilot of the small plane sent by the race organization to search for Thierry. However, fate would have it that on the same January 14, 9 years later, he died in a helicopter accident during the celebration of precisely a stage of the Paris-Dakar.
Thierry Sabine and a life full of coincidences
As a result of the experience he suffered in 1977, Sabine was deeply affected and this made him devise new, safer ways to compete in the rallies that took place in African territory. It was in 1979 that the Paris-Dakar was born and just a few days before his death in 1986, the Nigerien army, in a reconnaissance operation for the test, found the remains of his Yamaha XT500 among the African dunes.
This was later given by Sabine’s father to the winner of the Paris-Dakar of that same year, Cyril Neveu, who coincidentally had also won the 1979 edition precisely with a Yamaha XT500. Now, almost 40 years after being recovered, the motorcycle will be displayed at the exhibition “Desert Queen” which will be held during the EICMA 2025 events.
As Insella’s colleagues detail: “The exhibition will pay tribute to the Dakar’s forty-year history, which organizers will showcase through the display of more than thirty motorcycles, memorabilia, photos and videos. Located in the MotoLive outdoor area of the EICMA, it will also offer the public interactive experiences, such as direct meetings with the riders and informative perspectives on navigation, safety and the evolution of the technical team.”
