00:00 1979, and the first Paris-Dakar rally.
00:10 Among the 182 brave souls and 92 wheelers, a biker like no other.
00:16 From the capital to Marseille before crossing the Mediterranean for Algiers, a pure amateur,
00:22 Philippe Jambert readies his road bike for the challenge of a lifetime.
00:28 In a way an easy rider, the journalist challenging the African plains on his standard BMW R65
00:36 series.
00:37 The only alterations?
00:40 Widened handlebars and the suspension slightly improved.
00:45 Oh, the sand.
00:50 I'll never get used to it.
00:55 I hate the sand.
00:58 The road ahead wouldn't get any easier with 10,000 kilometers of the first edition still
01:04 to ride.
01:05 The amateur rider and his bike suffering during this truly immense challenge.
01:12 I just broke a shock absorber.
01:17 How long since you broke it?
01:19 I didn't notice immediately.
01:20 It had stopped just as I was riding alongside a truck and they noticed the problem.
01:25 I was fortunate because it was about to break off completely.
01:28 I could have seriously broken my face.
01:31 This is hell, yeah?
01:32 It's really a journey to destroy man and machine.
01:35 Philippe Jambert battling with no assistance, his tool kit attached to his bike.
01:42 The stages follow one after another, only getting harder.
01:53 I don't know sub-Saharan Africa, so I'm a bit apprehensive, but it should be okay.
01:57 Of course, this is a tourist bike.
02:00 It was always a gamble without assistance on terrain like this.
02:03 It's really tough because the bike is so heavy.
02:09 Sadly, the bike would never see the Dakar finish.
02:14 The engine and other parts broke down.
02:17 Jambert abandoning the race between Gao and Mokhty with three stages to go.
02:22 [00:05:00] [music]
02:28 (whooshing)
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