Thierry Sabine

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Sabine during the 1986 Paris-Alger-Dakar rally, on 4 January.

Thierry Sabine (° 13 June 1949 in Neuilly-sur-Seine - † 14 January 1986) - French wrangler, motorcycle racer - founder and main organizer of Paris Dakar.

In 1977 he got lost in sands of Libyan Desert during Abidjan-Nice Race. During this time he decided that desert would be a good location for a regular rally, where every amateur of racing life could check his abilities. In December 1977 - he arranged an edition of the race with start situated in Paris and winning-post in Dakar. Since then he sacrificed the rest of his life organizing Paris Dakar.

Sabine was killed when his Ecureuil helicopter crashed at 07:30 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 RTL.^[1]

He was featured in the movie A Man and a Woman, 20 Years Later that came out 1986.