"January 11 for Castiglion Fiorentino was only the eleventh day of the year until 2005. Then that cursed last stage of Fabrizio Meoni's Dakar changed the history of our city, and above all it took away from his family one of the best children of our land ". Thus the mayor of Castiglion Fiorentino, Mario Agnelli, remembers the Castiglionese champion 17 years after his death. This morning a group of motorcyclists together with the mayor Agnelli, in the presence of Meoni's family and closest friends, met in Partini, on the Foce pass, where the stone dedicated to the champion is located, to lay some wreaths.
On 11 January 2005 Fabrizio Meoni lost his life during the Paris-Dakar, a race that had seen him winner on a motorcycle in 2001 and 2002. 17 years after that tragic accident, Meoni is still present in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Castiglion Fiorentino, his hometown, of many motorcyclists, and of all those people who knew him in life.
There are in fact many centaurs from all over Italy who stop to pay homage to the statue placed in his memory.
"We have an indissoluble bond with Fabrizio - concludes Agnelli - which is gradually represented by the many manifestations of affection".