A titan of the original Paris-Dakar Rally, Belgium's Gaston Rahier made an outsize impression on the World's toughest rally
The original Paris-Dakar Rally was one of the last great motorsport adventures, spanning eight countries and thousands of miles of the most challenging terrain on Earth. In 1984 the event became a race for survival as the harsh conditions and the baking heat of the Saharan desert to the freezing temperatures of the African mountains decimated the starting field of 426 cars, motorcycles and trucks.
After a 12,000km odyssey just 148 machines made it to the finish line in Dakar.
The bike section was a star-studded affair, with BMW's challengers Hubert Auriol and Gaston Rahier dominating. Once referred to as "The little man with the giant reputation", pint-sized Belgian rider Gaston Rahier was a formidable opponent, having previously achieved a treble of 125cc World Motocross Championships in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
For his achievements, Rahier was awarded the National Trophy of Sporting Merit in his native Belgium. But more success was to follow when he turned his attentions to the desert and the challenge of the Paris-Dakar Rally.
Rahier's Dakar debut in 1983 ended with a non-finish due to mechanical failure, though he was leading the motorcycle class before retiring. He returned in 1984, riding for BMW and up against tough competition in his own team mate, Hubert Auriol. Standing at a mere 5' 5”, Rahier was small in stature but a goliath on his machine, even though the 42” seat height of his BMW made mounting his steed almost as daunting as scaling the vast dunes of the Sahara desert!
He dominated the 1984 Dakar, taking victory, which he went on to repeat in 1985. At the end of 1985, Rahier was named, alongside long-distance runner Vincent Rousseau, as Belgium's Sportsman of the Year which cemented his place as a legend of motorcycle sport.