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More than just a day off
Saturday, 10th January
Gernot Bauer accompanies the 2009 Dakar held in Argentina and Chile as reporter and for eurosport.yahoo.de, he regularly has a look behind the curtains:
The Dakar is the toughest rally of the world. A few hours after the death of motorbike driver Pascal Terry during the second leg, the rally succeeded in just avoiding another tragedy. The following report demonstrates that the competitors often are balancing on a fine line, in the Dakar.
I’m just having my supper in Valparaiso, in the canteen of the local marine academy that has been made available to us. The atmosphere is relaxed, the shaded room is the venue of a folklore performance. Then, some of the seats at my table become free. A man approaches and sits down. He slowly eats his supper.
In French, the language of the Dakar, I wish him to enjoy his meal and we start talking. My opposite is a motorbike rider, one of the independent entrants. One of those who have realised their dream of contesting the Dakar.
When asked how the rally has been running for him, so far, he falls silent. Then, Federico – that’s his name – tells me a story anyone competing in the Dakar could encounter. A story that makes my blood run cold.
Federico Ghitti is 44 years old. He has been a motor-biker since his youth, he loves this vehicle and knows how to control it. He is a good enduro driver, physically fit, a bearlike man. And now, he wants to make his dream come true. The dream to contest the Dakar. The university professor doesn’t suspect that this rally will change his life.
It happens during the leg to San Rafael. The one featuring the dunes. And the numerous difficulties. It’s the morning when the corpse of the motorbike rider Pascal Terry – missed since the second leg – is found. For Federico, the section of the leg will turn out to be a watershed in his life. When climbing out of his tent in the morning, he looks forward to a true, great Dakar leg. His first.
He assiduously has prepared in the dunes of Dubai and in other rallies. For him, it’s a dream finally coming true. A dream the Italian nearly never had woken up, from. In this special stage, he just avoids dying. “No: actually, I was already dead,” he says later.
When the first vehicles stranded in the dunes, nobody started being concerned. After all, the Dakar is the toughest, most gruelling rally of the world. In the afternoon, however, the organisers become aware of the fact that continuing the special stage would be pointless. It is neutralised from CP 2 and all the vehicles are diverted. Particularly due to the fear caused by the 2009 Dakar’s first casualty. At this point in time, several motorbikes and cars are struggling with the soft, fine sand. They labour with sand plates and scoops and metre by metre, they work their way forward. Dune ridge by dune ridge.
Some of them succeed in battling their way through the dunes to the end of the special stage. Some of the others return and the majority of the rest is salvaged. In the end, they all hit the road to the bivouac – looking forward to a good meal, a shower and some ours of sleep in their sleeping back. Just a few are left in the area, among them Federico.
He waits. “In the following hours, some four motorbikes and four cars drove past me. But nobody stopped.” Although the Italian waves his arms to indicate that he needs help. The tanned motor biker isn’t aware of the fact that all the vehicles behind him are diverted. So, his chances of being provided with fuel and help keep on decreasing. Decreasing dramatically with every single vehicle passing him. He starts worrying. Slightly at first but soon, he is seriously worried.
At this point in time, he has informed the organisers twice that he stranded in the dunes without any fuel. His position is known. Than it starts raining and according to Ghitti, the rain drops soon turn into small hailstones. He is a tough, a strong man. 1.87 metres, 91kg, not a single gram of fat. An outdoor-type of guy who attracts a lot of attention in the gym. Twice he was Italian Squash Champion. But now even Federico comes to the conclusion that the situations starts to become uncomfortable. In the meantime he is soaking wet and so cold that he is trembling all over. Exhausted from the day’s burning sun, the dust, the fight against the sand and now exposed to these adverse weather conditions, he contacts the organisers once again.
“They tried to calm me down as I was getting really mad. Again an again they told me that help was on the way and everything would turn out fine. But how?” Federico, who speaks French perfectly, tries to believably describe that even the racing cars are hopelessly stuck. Who is supposed to come and help him? And how? Due to nightfall, he also doesn’t believe the suggestion that he might be evacuated by helicopter. In the meantime, his physical condition is threatening and during the course of the day, he contacts the race control several times. “When contacting them the final time, I felt that cold and exhausted that I was nearly unable to speak.”
Without water, exposed to the storm and the night without any protection, he gets more and more frustrated. That’s the moment when he decides to ‘press the button’. The one that triggers the emergency signal. That means the end of his Dakar dream – but help. He presses it.
Nonetheless, nothing happens. Then he passes out. Slowly, it’s getting completely dark above the sea of sand.
At the same time, two Dakar veterans are battling their way across the same area: Carlo de Gavardo and Jean Brucy are two true celebrities in the Dakar bivouac. They both have contested several Dakars, have won legs and secured top ten positions. Both are professional off-road rally drivers. This year, the French-Chilean pairing contests the event with a buggy. When they finally get going again, they discover a motionless body in the sand, lying next to a motorbike. It’s Federico.
Immediately, the two veterans realise the seriousness of the situation. “We stopped right away,” Carlo de Gavardo explains. “The man was conscious but completely deranged and in a kind of shock.” They react instinctively, try to revive the motorbike rider. But only when the lay him on the warm engine bonnet of their buggy and massage him, the Italian regains consciousness.
Lying on the bonnet of the buggy is the first Federico remembers since he passed out. How long he was unconscious? He hasn’t got the slightest idea. Brucy recalls the moment as follows: “Never before had I encountered such a situation. I still get emotional when talking about it. The only thin he stammered was: ‘I don’t wanna die here, I don’t wanna die here. Please help me’.”
They provide him with what they have got: something to drink and the few bits of food they have got aboard their buggy. Furthermore, Brucy gives him his dry T-shirt and a race overall. And he lets him sit in the passenger seat. The space in racing buggies is extremely limited, consequently, the Frenchman has to sit on the window frame, partly outside of the vehicle, to make room for Federico. This way, they jointly cover the renaming 20 kilometres to the bivouac in San Rafael.
“There is just no way to thank the two sufficiently,” Federico says quietly – but with a slightly emotional voice, “They saved my life.” He already had said his last prayers and said goodbye to life. And he “didn’t just say so. I was done. I was more than just virtually dead.” His face displays gratitude and humbleness.
On the following day, a spectator takes him and a petrol can on a quad back to his bike. Together, they tow it out of the deep sand and Federico can continue the rally. He benefits from the fact that the section that nearly cost his life was neutralised. Only during the day off at Valparaiso he truly realises what has happened. And that it was really close. An emotional meeting with his life-savers moves both, the savers and the saved.
Jean Brucy has got tears in his eyes when realising what he says to Federico: “My God! Without us, you would have died out there.” Had they passed the dune ridge just a few metres further away, they never would have discovered the motionless body. “I still feel dizzy as I’m realising the importance only just now. Apart from us, there was absolutely nobody around.” The only thing Federico Ghitti can do is swallowing. The lump in his throat is just too big.
