Thierry Sabine

In 1977 Sabine got lost on the Tchigai Plateau, near the isolated mountain of Emi Fezzan during the Abidjan-Nice Race, and realized that the desert would be a good location for a rally where amateurs could test their ability. In December 1977 he established a race from Paris to Dakar and devoted the rest of his life to its organization. His motto for the Dakar Rally was, "A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind."^[1]

Sabine was noted for the care he took over the competitors, which was exemplified during the 1983 running of the event. That year, the route crossed the as-yet-unexplored Ténéré region of the Sahara and 40 competitors became lost when a sandstorm struck. He spent four days flying over the region and was able to direct all lost competitors toward the correct route. Nicole Maitrot, a competitor the previous year, said of him:

"One has the impression that Thierry Sabine is God looking over his sheep from up in his helicopter, coming down in a swirl of airplane to help those who are lost."^[1]

Sabine was killed when his Ecureuil helicopter crashed into a dune at Mali during a sudden sandstorm at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 14 January 1986. 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.^[2] Sabine's ashes were later scattered at the Lost Tree in Niger, which the rally thereafter described as the "Arbre Thierry Sabine".^[3]

He was featured in the movie A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later released in 1986.