The Paris-Dakar rally moved into Sebha, the...

The Paris-Dakar rally moved into Sebha, the boyhood home of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, with Belgian Jacky Ickx holding the automobile lead and Spaniard Carlos Mas edging ahead in the motorcycle division.

Upon reaching the checkpoint after a day’s drive through the desert, exhausted rally drivers were greeted with promises from Kadafi for a special New Year’s Eve day banquet for the racers and for permission to exclude the drivers and their support teams from the ban on alcohol in his Islamic society.