Greatest victories + next month

It’s about overcoming the odds Cyril Neveu 1979 Paris-dakar rally

THE KUDOS: Before relocating to South America in 2009, the annual Paris–dakar Rally (latterly shortened to The Dakar) pitted human and machine against some the harshest landscapes on the African continent. While the cars category dominates modern headlines, the inaugural race was won on a motorcycle.

THE rider

Born in Orléans, France, in 1956, Cyril Neveu was drawn to the thrill of motorcycle riding instead of attempting to emulate the successes of his father on the international kayaking scene.

Initially focused on the intricate discipline of trail riding, Neveu would later be drawn to the freedom of raid rally racing. Having competed in the 1977 Abidjan–nice Rally that would ultimately inspire the Paris–dakar race, Neveu lined up his Yamaha 500 XT at the start of the first race to Dakar, Senegal, in 1978 with a view to simply enjoy himself.

Now still involved in the behind-the-scenes organising of historic rally events, Neveu recalls that first Dakar event: “I was 21 years old and had already experienced Africa in the Abidjan–nice Rally. I was just like everyone else: a simple guy grabbing onto the handle bars of his XT without any leather satchels.”

THE RACE

The idea came to Frenchman Thierry Sabine after he spent three days and nights lost in the Libyan Desert during the 1977 running of the Abidjan–nice Rally, and the first Paris–dakar Rally departed from the streets of the French capital on 26 December 1978. Among a field of 182 competitors (from 170 teams) setting course for a finish line some 10 000 km away, were 90 motorcyclists, including a young Neveu.

While the star riders of the heavily supported Yamaha/sonauto works team were expected to dominate this gruelling event, a controversial seven-hour time penalty handed to the leading nine riders after what was essentially an organisational error saw pre-race favourites, including Rudy Potisek and Christian Rayer, struggle to regain lost time.

Riding one of the 38 Yamaha 500 XT motorcycles in the race, an ever-consistent Neveu found himself leading the overall standings after six of the eight stages without actually having claimed a stage win. To this day an event that isn’t over until the chequered flag drops, in the 1979 Dakar Neveu’s bike would require an engine change ahead of his final-day push to the line.

In a race labelled by its founder as “a challenge for those who go, and a dream for those who stay behind”, Neveu would lead two more motorcycle riders home before the first car, a Range Rover driven by Alain Génestier, claimed fourth place overall.

Neveu would go on to win the event another four times, his last victory in 1987.