Agostino Tocci, one of the early Dakar Rally competitors, has passed away.

Tocci ran the Paris–Dakar seven times throughout the 1980s, including the inaugural race in 1979. A Fiat dealer, did the ’79, ’81, and ’82 editions in a Campagnola AR76; it initially featured a modified Fiat 131 engine rather than the base 80-hp motor, which was upgraded to a 200-horsepower Lancia Stratos V6 for 1982.

With the Fiat, he finished 17th at the 1979 Dakar and 19th in 1982. Tocci withdrew from the 1981 race after Italian journalists Andrea Carisi, Franco Druetta, and Giuseppe De Tommaso were killed in a fatal accident when their Campagnola rolled.

In 1985, Tocci returned to the driver’s seat of an IVECO 110 PC support truck. Two years later, he drove an IVECO Magirus 190.

The blue Magirus was eventually used as the inspiration for GeaLife Motorsport’s own Magirus truck, which was also a Dakar assistance truck in the ’80s and currently competes in the Dakar Classic. Tocci also supported the team throughout the later years of his life.

GeaLife Motorsport posted the following on Tuesday:

Goodbye Tocci, goodbye…because everyone knew you easier and more concise than as Agostino.

You leave us so suddenly without waiting to let us introduce you to our 190, which we built, remembering that beautiful tale you told in 1987 at the Paris Dakar with your very own 190 prototype.

Goodbye Tocci, warrior and lion as well as master of the desert. The real one. The Ténéré you tackled in Campa with that Ferrari engine and an IVECO truck.

Tocci, say hello up there to Thierry Sabine and all the others who now race in the deserts of the skies and who perhaps are watching us. We at the Dakar Classic remember your exploits from those unforgettable times.

Featured image credit: via GeaLife Motorsport