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Alphand and Coma win death-marred Dakar Rally
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-16 11:44
LAC ROSE, Senegal (Reuters) - French driver Luc Alphand and Spanish rider
Marc Coma won their first Dakar Rally on Sunday but both lamented the accidents
which killed two young boys and an Australian competitor during the 9,000-km
race.
As a tribute to the three victims, organizers decided not to time
Sunday's 110-km last stage around Lac Rose, a scenic salt lake set amid
beachside sand dunes north east of Dakar.
The rally ended as always with a podium finish and the prize presentations
but the event was overshadowed by the deaths of motorcyclist Andy Caldecott, who
crashed during the ninth stage on Monday, and the two young African boys who
were hit by vehicles on Friday and Saturday.
"It really raises the question of safety," said spectator Hussein Ousman, who
has seen the rally arrive in Dakar 20 times. "These deaths are terrible. We
cannot have this. Something must be done about it."
Mitsubishi driver Alphand, winner of the 1997 Alpine skiing World Cup, won
the cars division with a 17 minutes and 53 second lead overall over Volkswagen
driver Giniel De Villiers of South Africa. Last year's winner, Frenchman
Stephane Peterhansel, came fourth.
"The rally is hard and unfortunately this year there were some accidents,"
Alphand said.
Coma dedicated his victory to his fellow KTM rider Caldecott, a four-times
winner of the Australia Safari, who was competing in his third Dakar and had won
the third stage of this year's race.
"I dedicate this to Andy, who had the bad luck to be involved in an accident
and lost his life," Coma said.
The race has now claimed 48 lives, including eight children, 23 competitors
and the founder of the rally Thierry Sabine, in its 28-year history.
TREE HIT
Alphand said the worst moment of his race came when he hit a tree on Tuesday
and was forced to stop for repairs.
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