Thierry Sabine, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Thierry Sabine

French racing driver

Date of Birth: 13-Jun-1949

Place of Birth: Neuilly-sur-Seine, Île-de-France, France

Date of Death: 14-Jan-1986

Profession: motorcycle racer, rally driver, helicopter pilot

Nationality: France

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Thierry Sabine (13 June 1949, Neuilly-sur-Seine – 14 January 1986, Mali) was a French wrangler, motorcycle racer and founder and main organizer of Paris Dakar. In 1977 he got lost in the Tenere Desert during the Abidjan-Nice Race and realised that the desert would be a good location for a regular rally where amateurs could test their ability.
In December 1977 he organised a race from Paris to Dakar and devoted the rest of his life to its organization. Sabine was killed when his Ecureuil helicopter crashed into a dune at Mali during a sudden sand-storm at 07:30 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.
Sabine's ashes were spread at the Lost Tree in Niger, which the rally thereafter described as the "Arbre Thierry Sabine".He was featured in the movie A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later released in 1986.