Pierre Rousseau, who navigated for Christian Avril at the Paris–Dakar Rally from 1983 to 1985, passed away Wednesday morning. His son Olivier broke the news.

The duo entered the 1983 race under the Team New-Man banner with a Range Rover V8 that Rousseau had built. The body and chassis, gearbox, and axles came from a Range Rover but the engine was drawn from a Plymouth Barracuda. Their friend Gérard Sarrazin, who also owned a Range Rover with a different engine than original, designed the livery. However, Avril and Rousseau did not complete the race.

In 1984, they joined forces with Sarrazin to race ARO 24 Proto cars. Once again, Avril and Rousseau failed to finish after the front axle broke on their way to Iferouane. They tried again in 1985 but with the same result.

While the Dakar exploits weren’t successes, Rousseau led the ARO program with success in other races like the Rallye des Pharaons. The ARO team won the overall with Sarrazin and Avril as well as the women’s trophy with Lucette Sarrazin and Claudine Colas (ninth overall).

Featured image credit: Yves Guittat / DPPI for 4×4 MAGAZINE #44 (January–February 1985)