Notes:
Former Dakar Rally champion in 2001 and 2002, and current second place rider in 2005, Fabrizio Meoni died on Tuesday, 11 January 2005, after a crash during a stage of the Dakar Rally, a day after his Spanish rival and friend José Manuel Pérez died from the injuries suffered three days earlier.
Meoni's incident happened during the 695-kilometer 11th special stage Atâr - Kiffa, in Mauritania territory. According to the reports by A.S.O. - organizer of the 2005 Rally Telefónica Dakar - Fabrizio Meoni fell down just a few minutes after passing checkpoint 1, located on the 175th kilometer of the stage. He broke his neck in the crash. Medical and rescue teams were on the scene almost twenty minutes later, but despite prolonged resuscitation efforts, Meoni's heart had stopped beating and he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest.
A popular off road and rallying motorcycle racer, known by Italians as "The African", Fabrizio Meoni was 47-year old. He was born and lived in Castiglion Fiorentino, province of Arezzo, Italy, where he managed a motorcycle workshop. For more than 18 years he participated in African rallies on a KTM motorcycle, winning the Dakar Rally in 2001 and 2002, finishing 2nd in 1998 and 3rd in 1994 and 2003. The 2005 edition of the toughest desert rally in the world, was his 13th Gioele meoni Fabrizio meoni died | Fabrizio Meoni |
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Born | 31 December 1957 | Died | 11 January 2005 | Nationality | Italian | Class | Bikes | Dakar début | 1992 | Titles | 2 (2001, 2002) |
Fabrizio Meoni (December 31, 1957 in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy – January 11, 2005 in Kiffa, Mauritania) was an Italian off road and rallying motorcycle racer. He was the Dakar Rally bikes champion in 2001 and 2002. Sadly, he died during the 2005 Dakar Rally of a fatal cervical spine injury caused by a crash, some few months after Richard Sainct's death in the Pharaoh's Rally. Fabrizio MeoniItalian motorcycle racer Fabrizio Meoni (31 December 1957 – 11 January 2005) was an Italian off-road and rallyingmotorcycle racer. He was a member of the KTM Factory Team. BiographyMeoni was born in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. Meoni was married and had two children, Gioele and Chiara. On May 22, 2021, his daughter Chiara died at the age of 18 after a serious illness. CareerHe won the Dakar Rally in 2001 and 2002. According to the rally's organizers, Meoni was considered "one of the greatest rally-raid champions ever". He also won the Rallye des Pharaons in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. DeathHe died at age 47 near Kiffa, Mauritania, caused by a crash on 11 January 2005 on the 11th stage of the 2005 Dakar Rally. His official cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to his official website, although his injuries included cervical spine damage. Since the competitors did not want to continue racing the next day, the 12th stage of the rally was cancelled for all motorcycles in honor of Meoni. Jose Manuel Perez of Spain, another motorcyclist with the KTM Team, also died during the rally several days earlier. Meoni was "the 11th motorcyclist to die in the history of the gruelling race and the 45th competitor overall." References
Fabrizio Meoni had a It is understandable that all victory celebrations on the podium were cancelled – no champagne, no cheers. It was a time of remembrance of Richard Sainct and Fabrizio Meoni. “January 11th was a black day,” stated Cyril Despres, Dakar champion. “It had hurt so much to lose Fabrizio. Afterwards my head was empty. First we lost Richard, then Fabrizio. It will take a long time until we comprehend all of this. Nevertheless, I believe it was the right decision to continue the rally. I love racing, just as Fabrizio did. He too, got back on a motorbike after Richard’s accident. My motorcycle was exactly the place to find myself again.” Fabrizio Meoni died on January 11th on the special from Atar to Kiffa. It is still hard to grasp that the double Dakar winner will never again ride a bike through the desert. “I have learned so much from Fabrizio and Richard,” explained Cyril Despres. “I had the same troubles they had in the beginning of my career. They learnt to go fast thanks to guys like Peterhansel, Magnaldi and Orioli. When I started they were my guides. Trying to follow them, understanding how to cope with navigation helped me improve. I don’t know if I ever really had an idol, but that I am here today is thanks to Fabrizio and Richard.”
Fabrizio Meoni is the eleventh motorcycle rider in the history of the Dakar rally who has lost his life. With Cyril Despres’ victory KTM has also reached its actual goal in this year’s Dakar. For the 5th time a rider won the toughest rally in the world on a motorcycle from the manufacturer in Mattighofen. With that KTM outdid the manufacturers Yamaha and BMW. But no one is getting overly excited about this. “At the moment the sporting success is totally pushed in the background,” explained Winfried Kerschhaggl, KTM marketing director. “We are thinking about the future right now. If we cannot find some common ground about the safety, we
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