1988: The desperate Peugeot search (28/40)

December 28 ^th 2017 - 15:28

Edition 40 is approaching… a look back at 40 episodes with the most memorable images in the history of the Dakar.

“We thought we were in a movie’’, says Ari Vatanen, who victoriously discovered the Dakar the previous year and was confident about defending his title. He was in the lead of the rally when he reached Bamako, but then the unthinkable happened. Early in the morning, in the Malian capital city, the manager of the Peugeot team was informed that the Finn’s 405 had been stolen and would only be returned if a ransom of 25 million francs CFA was paid! The car was eventually found in a field, but it was too late. Vatanen missed the start time and found himself excluded from the rally. But the French lions continued to roar and it was his team mate Juha Kankkunen that went on to win the Dakar.