Jan 12, 2005 – Day 13 of Dakar

Stage 12: originally scheduled as a 585km Special, has been canceled due to the death of renowned KTM rider, Fabrizio Meoni. The riders have expressed their wish to withdraw from stage 12, and A.S.O., the Dakar promoting organization, has complied. All motorcycle racers were flown from Kiffa to Bamako.

Scot Harden called today and said, “I’m in Bamako. They just flew all the motorcycle racers in, canceling Stage 12 out of respect for Fabrizio [Meoni]. It’s been tough around here…Fabrizio was a very special guy and well respected. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with his wife and two children.”

The team is still holding up really well. Chris and Kellon have exceeded everyone’s expectations. They have been riding with intelligence, determination and pure skill in these conditions, and they have impressed a lot of established people over here.

Unfortunately, Kellon had electrical problems with the bike and it caused him to lose a lot of time. He fixed it on his own and now sits in the 21st overall position. Chris is doing an outstanding job as he is in 9th.

We’re out of the sand now…going into the jungle and villages. We have to be careful because there is danger around every corner. We have three more days of hard competition, but we’ll just take it one day at a time.”

Stage 13 will be from Bamako to Kayes, and will feature a 370km special test.