Thierry Sabine

Sabine during the 1986 Paris-Alger-Dakar rally, on 4 January.

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 Libyan Desert during the Abidjan-Nice Race. During this time he decided that desert would be a good location for a regular rally, where every amateur of racing life could check his abilities. In December 1977 he arranged an edition of the race with start situated in Paris and the finish line in Dakar. He devoted subsequent years to organizing the Paris-Dakar.

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.

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