Richard Sainct (14 April 1970 – 29 September 2004) was a French rally raid motorcycle rider, best known for his three victories on The Paris-Dakar rally in 1999, 2000 and 2003.[1]

Richard Sainct
KTM 660 Rally ridden by Richard Sainct to victory of the 2003 Dakar Rally
Personal information
Born(1970-04-14)14 April 1970
Saint-Affrique, France
Died29 September 2004(2004-09-29) (aged 34)
Egypt
Sport
Country France
SportMotorsport
EventRally raid
Achievements and titles
World finals
Medal record
Rally raid
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Dakar Rally 3 1 1
Rally of Tunisia 2 - -
Rallye du Maroc 4 - -
Pharaons Rally 1 - -
Total 10 1 1

Biography

edit

His other notable achievements include winning the Tunisia Rally twice in 1998 and 1999; the Moroccan Rally in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002; and the Pharaons Rally in 2002. He also won the FIA Rally Raid World Cup in 2002.[2]

Death

edit

He was killed on 29 September 2004 on the fourth stage of the Pharaons Rally in Egypt,[3] Sainct fell and was assisted by the Italian teammate Fabrizio Meoni, who helped him get up and be honest with his condition. To the Tuscan who helped him, Sainct seemed in a light confusion, but insisted on wanting to leave. He resumed the race, with no apparent problems, and stopped at the assistance expected after 211 km of the race.[2]

After 270 kilometers of stage Sainct was the victim of a second fall and was found on the ground and already devoid of life. The heartbeat seemed absent when the rescue helicopter intervened with a doctor on board. Probably, in the first fall, Sainct reported some internal injury. The KTM decided to withdraw all its bikes from the race, but the race director, the former Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, decided to continue the race.[2]

Rally Dakar

edit

Sainct won 15 stages in his rally raid participations, the complete results are in the Dakar Historic Book.[4]

Year Bike Rank Stages
1991 Kawasaki Ret. 0
1995 Honda Ret. 0
1996 KTM LC4 6th 0
1997 KTM LC4 Ret. 0
1998 KTM LC4 Ret. 1
1999 BMW F650 RR 1st 2
2000 BMW F650 RR 1st 2
2001 KTM LC4 660R Ret. 2
2002 KTM LC4 660R 3rd 1
2003 KTM LC4 660R 1st 5
2004 KTM LC4 660R 2nd 2

References

edit
  1. ^ "Rally Faraoni: muore Sainct Aveva vinto 3 Parigi-Dakar" (in Italian). ecodibergamo.it. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Tragedia in Egitto, muore Sainct" (in Italian). gazzetta.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Tragedia al Rally dei Faraoni: muore Sainct" (in Italian). lagazzettadelmezzogiorno.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  4. ^ "DAKAR 2017 - Historic Book" (PDF). lequipe.fr. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

19992000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Dakar Rally
Motorcycle Winner

2003
Succeeded by