Eric Palante Loses Life In Dakar Rally Event

By Ajinkya

Published: Saturday, January 11, 2014, 17:06 [IST]

Motorcycle rider Eric Palante from Belgium lost his life this friday, at the Dakar rally event.

Organizers of the event went looking for Palante after he failed to finish the fifth stage, which was completed by most riders on Thursday. They found his corpse en route however, cause of death is being investigated and few details were made available.

This was the 11th Dakar Rally Palante was participating in, he was soon to turn 51 this 21st of Jan. His vision was to conquer the amateur trophy for motorbikes. Organizers stated, "He knew the race very well, and over the years his enthusiastic but serious approach had made him one of the pillars of the event".

There was no alert from Palante, said organizers.

"A very long stage of suffering is ahead," Palante's website reported. The Belgian riders website reports, he had injured his hand in an accident and his bike had to be towed on thursday. Overnight repairs to the bike and treatment to the injured hand, helped him to begin the fifth stage.

Two other deaths related to the rally were also reported. Official explained two individuals following the race lost their lives as their car overturned in Northern Argentina's rough terrain. The duo was
later identified as Agustin Ignacio Mina aged 19 and Daniel Eduardo Ambrosio aged 51.

The crash occurred on Thursday during closure of the fifth stage. Mina was reporting the rally for a motor racing magazine and Ambrosio was a fan of motorsports.

The Dakar Rally has claimed many lives with KTM's Kurt Caselli being its recent victim.

Treacherous Dakar rally