A few kilometers after the start of the 13th stage of the 1988 Rallye Paris-Alger-Dakar, Tombouctou-Bamako in territory of Mali, on Sunday, 17 January of that year, French rider Jean-Claude Huger lost control of his BMW RT100 near the small village of Nampala, and fell, blinking his head against a rock.

During the same evening Huger was airlifted to a clinic in Paris, France, where two days later he succumbed to his injuries, whitout regaining consciousness, on Tuesday, 19 January 1988.

At his second start in the Dakar Rally, Jean-Claude Huger had just finished the previous stage in Tombouctou, in 18th place in the motorcycle class. He was a Gendarmerie Nationale "motard" and had been several times a member of the escort for the President of the Republic of France.

The 10th running of the Dakar Rally event, held in 1988 proved to be one of the worst in history, the toll being seven people killed during the stages. Jean-Claude Huger was the only motorcycle rider, the other deceased persons were two competitors and four spectators. Belgian rider André Malherbe fell near Tamanrasset, Algeria, suffering severe injuries that would have left him paralyzed. PanAfrican news agency, representing the Dakar Rally organizers publicly stated that the four spectator deaths were “insignificant for the organizers”, attracting immense criticism from the Vatican.

R.I.P