Editing Mark Thatcher (section)

==Missing during 1982 Paris-Dakar rally==
On 9 January 1982 Thatcher, his French driver, [[Anny-Charlotte Verney]], and their mechanic went missing for six days in the [[Sahara]] whilst driving a [[Peugeot 504]] in the [[1982 Paris–Dakar Rally|Paris-Dakar Rally]]. They were declared missing on 12 January. His father flew to [[Dakar]], where a large-scale search was launched, including six military aircraft from three countries and [[Algeria]]n ground troops.

On 14 January, the [[Algerian military]] spotted Thatcher's party 50&nbsp;km (31 miles) off course.<ref name="profile"/> The Prime Minister insisted on paying £2,000 personally towards the cost of the search.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9767869/Sir-Mark-Thatcher-sparks-diplomatic-fracas-over-unpaid-bar-bill.html|title=Sir Mark Thatcher sparks diplomatic fracas over unpaid bar bill|work=The Telegraph|date=28 December 2012|first=Steven|last=Swinford}}</ref>

Before competing he said:
*"I've now raced in [[24 Hours of Le Mans|Le Mans]] and other things&nbsp;– this rally is no problem."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_2523000/2523841.stm|publisher=BBC News|title=1982: Mark Thatcher missing in Sahara|date=12 January 1982}}</ref>

In 2004, Thatcher wrote about his experience:
*"I did absolutely no preparation. Nothing."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jan/13/motorracing.features11|title=Lost in the desert|work=The Guardian|first=Mark|last=Thatcher|date=13 January 2004}}</ref>
*"We must have hit something. ... We stopped. The others stopped too, took a note of where we were and went on. But the silly bastards&nbsp;– instead of telling everyone we were 25 miles east when they finished the section, they told them we were 25 miles west."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
*"So The Boss (the [[Margaret Thatcher|prime minister]]) does entirely the right thing, picks up the phone to the ambassador in Algiers and says, "Can you find out what is going on?" The ambassador then rings the prefect of the region who says there are four people missing and that I am one of them."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>