This Friday morning, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, raised the possibility of an attack on the Dakar and the possibility of stopping the race, following the explosion that affected, on December 30 in Jeddah, a vehicle seriously injuring its driver, the Frenchman Philippe Boutron. For David Castera, the director of the event, this premature stop is not on the agenda.
“The question does not arise, quite simply because there are no additional elements, affirms the former enduro and rally-raid driver. As the minister’s entourage says, the real question is: “what happened on the 30th?” “. We have to answer it, for Philippe, his family. I got it on the phone two days ago. I found him incredible, with great morale, I did not expect to speak to him, he blew me away. We think of him. “
Saudi authorities on Saturday ruled out a criminal act to explain what they called an “accident”. The French national anti-terrorism prosecution announced that it had opened a preliminary investigation on Tuesday for “attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
“Much sadness”
AFP, present on site, saw a strengthening of the police presence at the entrance to the bivouac and on the start of the special on January 2, with no real development since. “Today we have put in place a lot of additional security measures thanks to the Saudi authorities,” explains the Dakar boss. It can be seen very easily in and around the bivouac, the hotels, on the departures and arrivals. “
David Castera admitted to feeling “a lot of sadness” as a result of this act. “We organize sport, we are there to have fun, to live passions, and not at all to be victims of an attack, if it is one. We will try to keep morale up and fight so that sport takes precedence over the rest. We always wonder about the future in Saudi Arabia but once again, until we have the answers, we do not say anything. We have to wait a bit, finish this rally, and we’ll see what happens next. “
