| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1957-12-31)31 December 1957 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 January 2005(2005-01-11) (aged 47) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Motorsport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Rally raid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Fabrizio Meoni (31 December 1957 – 11 January 2005) was an Italianoff-road andrallyingmotorcycle racer. He was a member of theKTM Factory Team.[1]
Meoni was born inCastiglion Fiorentino,Italy.[2]Meoni was married and had two children, Gioele and Chiara.[3][4]
On May 22, 2021, his daughter Chiara died at the age of 18 after a serious illness.[5]
He won theDakar Rally in2001 and2002.[1] According to the rally's organizers, Meoni was considered "one of the greatest rally-raid champions ever".[3]He also won theRallye des Pharaons in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.
He died at age 47 nearKiffa,Mauritania, caused by a crash on 11 January 2005 on the 11th stage of the2005 Dakar Rally.[3][4] His official cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to his official website,[6][3] although his injuries included cervical spine damage.[citation needed] Since the competitors did not want to continue racing the next day, the 12th stage of the rally was cancelled for all motorcycles in honor of Meoni. Jose Manuel Perez of Spain, another motorcyclist with the KTM Team, also died during the rally several days earlier.[1][3] Meoni was "the 11th motorcyclist to die in the history of the gruelling race and the 45th competitor overall."[4]
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | Dakar Rally Motorcycle Winner 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |