Jan 11, 2005 – Day 12 of Dakar

STAGE 11 Atar, Mauritania > Kiffa, Mali

2PM PST / Scot Harden: What a day this has been. Our good friend Fabrizio Meoni, a legendary hero of the rally sport, is dead as a result of a crash near CP 1 today. He was riding with a group of about 5 other top riders when he lost control, crashed and I believe was struck by his bike. A crew of doctors and emergency personnel were quickly on the scene, thanks to the first rider on the scene, David Fretigne #12, who deployed Meoni's locator beacon.

On behalf of the entire Red Bull KTM U.S., Dakar Team, I want to express our deepest sorrow and sympathy for his family and friends. He was a great champion and we are all deeply saddened by his loss. I am not certain what decision we'll make as a team with regard to our continued participation in this event. There is a great deal of talk amongst the riders and teams assembled here now to abandon and negotiations with the Dakar organizing committee will continue late into this night.

What happened is anyone's guess but from my perspective, the route that we've been subjected to this week transends sport. The effort that we've put forth to survive each stage has been monumental and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for the privateer and self-sponsored competitors, who are competing without the level of support that we receive.

The ride today was another test of will for the Red Bull KTM team. Almost from the get go we suffered potentially race ending problems, the first being Kellon Walch's bike going dead just after the start. Together, Kellon and I tried aimlessly to find the source of his electrical problems and in the process used our collective knowledge and our entire inventory of backup electrical fuses. All to no avail. After an initial attempt to jump-start Kellon's bike with my jumper cables, my bike too went dead. Disaster loomed for both of us and I was certain that we would surely DNF together. After another several minutes of effort I was able to get my bike fired and certain that I could help Kellon no longer, I headed off. I was crestfallen to think that Kellon's valiant run in his first ever rally, not to mention first Dakar, had come to a halt because of a simple electrical gremlin.

Once underway I was faced again with countless miles of sand and camel grass. Gone were my hopes that we'd encounter terrain that didn't require a trials bike. I can't imagine how the course officials who laid out this year's stages, would have looked at today's distance requirements and extreme level of intensity, and rationally consider this to be worthy of sending hundreds of motorcycle riders and car racers to battle. Thank God today's stage was shortened by 256km and we ONLY had to cover 400km. Focused on completing the stage healthy, particularly after seeing my friend Fabrizio Meoni being treated along the route by the medical team, I rode very conservatively, picked my lines carefully and limited my risk taking. I ended the day with a 22nd and I'm in 17th overall.

Chris Blais put in another solid day. He rode like a pro, avoided problems and was rewarded with a 9th for the day and 9th overall for the rally. Chris continues to impress me and everyone who has the pleasure of watching him mature as a rider and a man. I'm very blessed to have him as part of the Red Bull KTM team.

SPECIAL NEWS: If there was any happiness today it happened during this satellite phone conversation with Scott Cox (his company Resmarket.com manages my website back in California.) I just learned that Kellon Walch was able to get running again and finish the stage - albeit 5-hours down. An amazing feat considering Kellon was still at CP-1 at 3pm. He had to ride a good deal of the stage in darkness but he finished 100th for the stage and is now in 21st overall.

Well that's about it for now. I'm headed back to the bivouac to learn more about the days ahead. We're all too tired and emotional to make hard and fast plans right this minute but my hope is that some concessions will be made to help make this disasterous day never happen again.

5AM PST / Joe Barker: An early call from Joe Barker this morning brings sad news. Fabrizio Meoni #4, one of the heroes of rally racing died just a few hours ago from injuries sustained near Checkpoint 1. We don’t have all the details right now but it appears to have been a high-speed crash that claimed this 2-time winner and veteran of 13 Dakar Rallies.