 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(May 2011) |
Emile Leray | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 September 1949 (age 75) France |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | Building a motorcycle in the Moroccan Desert |
Emile Leray (born 11 September 1949) is a French electrician who is most noteworthy for transforming a car into a motorcycle while stranded in the Moroccan Desert.
Leray built a desert motorcycle out of the parts of a broken-down Citroën 2CV in 1993, while on a solo trip in Morocco. His car broke down in the middle of the Sahara when he accidentally hit a rock which damaged his car's chassis. He was stranded twenty miles from the nearest settlement, with only enough food and water to last ten days. [1] To survive, Leray used parts of his broken-down car to build a motorcycle, and twelve days after the accident was able to drive it to a village 20 miles away.
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. Security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, and events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge is run by 'Dakar Challenge' and self described as 'The original Banger Challenge’ and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. Established in 2002, the first rally went to Dakar in 2003, and then on to Banjul from 2005. It very roughly follows the route of the more famous Dakar Rally, visiting many of the same countries.
Broken Arrow is a 1996 American action-thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Graham Yost, and starring John Travolta, Christian Slater, and Samantha Mathis. The film's main themes include the theft of two American nuclear weapons, the attempts of U.S. military authorities to recover them, and the feud between Travolta and Slater's characters. The film was a commercial success despite mixed reviews.
Piero Taruffi was an Italian racing driver, motorcycle road racer, motorsport executive and engineer, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956. Taruffi won the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix with Ferrari. In endurance racing, Taruffi won the Mille Miglia in 1957, also with Ferrari. In Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Taruffi won the 1932 European Championship in the premier 500cc class with Norton.
Vanishing Point is a 1971 American action film directed by Richard C. Sarafian, starring Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, and Dean Jagger. It focuses on a disaffected ex-policeman and race car driver delivering a muscle car cross-country to California while high on speed, being chased by police, and meeting various characters along the way. Since its release it has developed a cult following.
Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker was an American motorcycle and automobile racer and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race at Crawfordsville, Indiana, in about 1904.
The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting four Dade County Public Safety Department officers in the death of Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance salesman and United States Marine Corps lance corporal. McDuffie was beaten to death by four police officers after a traffic stop. After the officers were tried and acquitted on charges including manslaughter and evidence tampering, a riot broke out in the Black neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City on the night of May 17. Riots continued until May 20, resulting in at least 18 deaths and an estimated $100 million in property damage.
Chadwick Steven McQueen was an American actor, film producer, martial artist, and race car driver. He was the only son and last living child of actor Steve McQueen (1930–1980).
The motorcycle sport of racing includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
James Sherwin "Bud" Ekins was an American professional stuntman in the U.S. film industry. He is considered to be one of the film industry's most accomplished stuntmen with a body of work that includes classic films such as The Great Escape and Bullitt. Ekins, acting as stunt double for Steve McQueen while filming The Great Escape, was the rider who performed what is considered to be one of the most famous motorcycle stunts ever performed in a movie. He was recognized for his stunt work by being inducted into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame.
Bear Camp Road is a rugged mountain road traversing the Klamath Mountains in Josephine and Curry counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bear Camp Road is a combination of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Road 34-8-36 starting just south of Galice and United States Forest Service (FS) Road 23, which continues from the 12-mile (19 km) point on 34-8-36 to Agness. The road is named for a camp and viewpoint at the 4,600-foot (1,400 m) summit near the Josephine–Curry county line.
The Father is a 1996 Iranian film by director Majid Majidi. It won a number of awards at film festivals both within Iran and internationally. The word pedar means father in Persian.
Greeves Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by Bert Greeves which produced a range of road machines, and later competition mounts for observed trials, scrambles and road racing. The original company produced motorcycles from 1952, funded by a contract with the Ministry of Pensions for their Invacar, a three-wheeler for disabled drivers.
Eddie Hill is an American retired drag racer who won numerous drag racing championships on land and water. Hill had the first run in the four second range (4.990 seconds), which earned him the nickname "Four Father of Drag Racing." His other nicknames include "The Thrill", "Holeshot Hill", and "Fast Eddie". In 1960, he set the NHRA record for the largest improvement in the elapsed time (e.t.) when he drove the quarter mile in 8.84 seconds to break the previous 9.40-second record.
Emilio Scotto is an Argentine adventurer, photojournalist, and writer. As of 2009 he holds the Guinness record for the world's longest motorcycle ride, spanning 10 years, 214 countries and a total distance of 457,000 miles (735,000 km). The ride was done on a 1980 Honda Gold Wing GL1100 motorcycle Scotto calls "Black Princess", which now sits in the Don's Riverside Car Museum in Laughlin, Nevada. Scotto recounted his travels in a 224-page book illustrated with his photographs, The Longest Ride: My Ten-Year 500,000 Mile Motorcycle Journey, published in 2007.
Toby Joseph Price OAM is an Australian off-road and enduro motorcycle racing world champion. He lives in Gold Coast, Queensland, and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2015. He now represents the Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team.
A Fire in the Sky is a made-for-television disaster movie that debuted on NBC on November 26, 1978. The movie is based on a story by Paul Gallico where the earth is threatened by a large comet, which impacts near Phoenix and causes massive destruction there. It is a Bill Driskill Production in association with Columbia Pictures Television.
Nine Miles Down is a 2009 horror film based on the Well to Hell, a widespread urban legend that Russian scientists had drilled so deep that they had broken through into hell and recorded the screams of the damned emanating from the borehole. It was the last feature film credit for writer Everett de Roche. It is an international co-production between the UK, Hungary, and the US.
Terry Hershner, nicknamed Electric Terry, is an electric vehicle and renewable energy advocate from Florida. He is known for his long-distance trips and record breaking on his electric motorcycle. He rides a modified production 2012 Zero Motorcycles S ZF9 electric motorcycle, outfitted with a Craig Vetter streamlined fairing. In 2013, he was the first person to cross the United States on an electric motorcycle. In 2014, he became the first ever electric motorcycle rider to go 1000 miles in 24 hours and earn an award from the Iron Butt Association, and was also the first electric motorcycle to win the Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge. Hershner is a board member of the Electric Auto Association, frequent public speaker and radio show guest, and transportation advisor to the international environmental student organization IDEAS for Us.
Ricky Megee is an Australian, most notable for having been stranded in the Outback and surviving for 71 days in 2006. Megee later gave contradictory statements as to how he came to be stranded crossing the Northern Territory and Western Australia. On one occasion he said that his car broke down, and on another that he had been carjacked by an armed gang. However, a doctor later confirmed that Megee's appearance was consistent with having lived in extreme conditions. Like most deserts, the Tanami can reach 40 °C (104 °F) during the day but still be very cold at night. Megee made his own primitive shelters and survived by drinking rainwater and eating small animals and available vegetation for nourishment. He was eventually discovered by a group of station hands near Katherine, Northern Territory, and taken to Darwin for medical assistance. Although some doubts were later raised as to the exact chain of events as Megee related them, the police did not find evidence that a criminal offence had occurred.