Cyril Despres In Dakar Anyway |
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File under Celebrities Dakar Race
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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The Dakar 2008 race may have been cancelled, but Cyril Despres  , winner of last year's event, had an appointment at the famous Lac Rose  (the location of the final stage of the Dakar rally). Cyril was going to make that appointment, but he would have preferred to arrive there on his KTM motorcycle, preferably while winning the race.
But he arrived in an airplane, and went there to fulfill his obligation to the Fabrizio Meoni Foundation, and to inaugurate a second school in Senegal. Cyril has been sponsoring and heavily involved in the Fabrizio Meoni Foundation ever since Fabrizio died in that ill-fated Dakar race.
Cyril Despres said "To be honest it wasn’t exactly how I had initially planned to arrive at Lac Rose – but pulling up at that mythical stretch of water in two buses, packed with excited school children, was an emotion every bit as strong as crossing the final finishing line in first place…There are some things in life you have no control over, and other things you can see through to the end, and with the Dakar Rally cancelled I was determined not to miss my 'other' January rendez-vous – the inauguration of the second Fabrizio Meoni Foundation School. Which is how I found myself, last week, on edge of the Lac Rose with 160 children, their teachers and parents, for a giant, joyous and somewhat chaotic picnic.
Although the school was only 10 kilometers or so away from Lac Rose it was the first time most of the children had a chance to visit. Their enthusiasm was infectious and we spent the whole day playing games, singing and dancing. It was absolutely brilliant fun – and every bit as exhausting as an 800 kilometer special across the desert !
Concretely we spent four days in the Senegalese capital ensuring the future of the new school, L’Ecole de Fabrizio et Cyril, made possible by contributions from France Confort, Grandvalira and Andbanc. "
Not that many heros left who aren't driven by money and glory. Good onya! 
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