Shock in the Dakar caravan on the last day of competition. ASO communicated on Friday afternoon the death of a Dakar Classic mechanic in a traffic accident: “This morning at 11:30, at km 234 of the assistance link route, there has been an accident between an assistance vehicle and a local truck, as reported by the local police. Unfortunately, the driver of the vehicle, Quentin Lavalée, a French national and member of the PH Spot team, has died as a result of the accident. I was 20 years old.”
“The passenger who was traveling with him, Maxime Frère, a Belgian national, was injured. and has been transferred conscious to the National Guards Hospital in Jeddah where a complete check-up is being carried out. He has abdominal and chest contusion,” added the statement from the organization of the race on the tragic outcome. Earlier, news had already arrived of a serious accident involving one of the vehicles in the Dakar caravan that was traveling from Bisha to Jeddah, the last stop on the rally, but the consequences of this were not revealed until later.
Quentin was chief mechanic of the 205 Turbo 16 vehicle that participated in the Dakar Classic (nº726) and “the entire Dakar caravan wishes to convey its deepest condolences to Quentin’s family, friends and loved ones and to the PH Sport team”. A tragedy with which a Dakar ends that has been too punctuated by non-sporting events such as the explosion of another assistance car in Jeddah that left the Frenchman Philippe Boutron seriously injured. Rest in peace Quentin.
