French motorcyclist dies in Dakar Rally

January 8, 2009 12:00 AM (DAKAR RALLY LOCAL TIME) The Dakar Rally was in mourning on Wednesday with the news that Pascal Terry, French motorcyclist, had been found dead while competing in this year's race.

The 49-year-old was found dead overnight after the fourth stage of the gruelling spectacle which is taking place for the first time in South America.

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Terry had been missing since Sunday's second stage of the race, and his body was found in dense bush between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn.

"The motorcyclist was found in an area that is very inaccessible with very dense vegetation 15 metres from his bike," organisers said in a statement.

"He had taken off his helmet and had taken shelter with food and water next to him."

Terry had informed race control on Sunday that his Yamaha had run out of petrol at the 197 kilometre mark, but that he had procured some from another competitor.

Organisers later tried to contact him on two occasions, but were unable to get any response.

On Tuesday, the search was briefly called off after rescuers thought they had spotted him.

Search operations were unable to locate Terry until early on Wednesday morning when he was found dead by local police.

The first-time Dakar racer was near his motorbike without his helmet, with food and water beside him.

An investigation was immediately opened to determine the cause of death.

"There was a breakdown in the organisation's chain of communication between January 4 and 5," Etienne Lavigne, race director, said.

"Information that he had deployed a distress signal reached Paris on January 4 and we here were not informed before the fifth."

Later on Wednesday, France's Yvan Muller had to pull out of the race after his buggy caught fire in what appeared to be a collision with the lorry of Portugal's Elisabete Jacinto, whose vehicle was on fire at the same place, organisers said. No competitor was injured in the incident.

Meanwhile, Chilean police said 2,500 officers would be deployed as authorities expected 250,000 people to line the roads when the race enters the country from January 11 to 14.

The rally will visit Valparaiso, Coquimbo and Atacama before re-entering Argentina on January 14.

[AFP]