Following deliberations, the jury for the Emilie Poucan Prize – which rewards the best photo on the Dakar – initially chose a photo by Stéphane Mantey (from French daily sports newspaper L’Equipe). However, the jury was informed that the biker on the photo selected was not one of the rally’s competitors, thus it no longer met the criteria and general spirit of the Emilie Poucan Prize.
It has therefore been decided to reward one of the photos taken by François Flamand (DPPI), who finished in second place in the initial vote.
A press relations officer on the Dakar for several years, during the 2010 edition Emilie Poucan set up a competition open to all the accredited photographers, in order to reward the best photo taken of the race or behind the scenes. To pay tribute to this lover of photography and the Dakar who died in tragic circumstances during the course of last year, the organisers decided to name the prize given to the best photo after Emilie.
