The death of the 49-year-old French motorbike rider has painted a picture of a man as normal as he was passionate about life.

We have learned that in more mundane circumstance, the married father of one son was boss of a plastering firm in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.

He was an avid sportsman who liked squash, cycling, and riding horses. He enjoyed motor sports and had participated in rallies in Tunisia and Morocco, riding a Yamaha 450 identical to the one he used in Argentina.

But Terry was taking part in his first ever Dakar rally. Early into the race, he alerted event organisers that he had fuel problems.

He was reported missing at the end of the second stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn and later that day sent out a distress signal. Search parties were dispatched.

His body was eventually found in dense vegetation, 100 metres off the road, some 15 metres from his bike. He had taken his helmet off and had found shade. He had food and water with him.

Then it got complicated.

As Agence France Press reported, organisers faced controversy.

Rescue operations may have been delayed by "human error", admitted race director Etienne Lavine, making a big call.

"The information (that Terry had activated his distress beacon) arrived on January 4 in the evening at our Paris HQ," he explained.

"We only became aware of this the next day at 8am local time. This delay does originate in a lack of communication between Paris HQ and field HQ – a human error."

How do you make an error of such magnitude when someone's life is in danger?

Tragically easy, it turns out.

"The search was not started immediately, that same Sunday, because Terry checked into the Neuquen camp, but it wasn't Pascal but his brother, who is also competing in the rally," explained Julio Acosta, of the La Pampa police, after investigating the incident.

On the weekend, a post-mortem revealed Pascal died of pulmonary edema, cardio-respiratory failure that was probably a pre-existing condition – the full stop in a series of unfortunate events.

Had he been found earlier, according to police, he may have lived.

Fate, chance, misfortune, disaster.

"The place seems fabulous," Terry said after arriving in Argentina before the race.

"We're going to live a great moment. I really believe that it's going to be exceptional."