List of fatal World Rally Championship accidents

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The list of fatal World Rally Championship accidents consists of drivers and co-drivers who have died at FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) rallies. The list also includes fatal accidents in the International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), the predecessor to the World Rally Championship, which was contested from 1970 to 1972. Well-known fatalities involving officials, spectators and team members are also mentioned.

Contents

The fatal accidents of the Group B era resulted in its demise. Only hours after Henri Toivonen's crash at the 1986 Tour de Corse, FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announced that Group B cars were banned for the 1987 season. However, driver fatalities peaked in 1989, when five competitors died in the first three rallies of the season (two during reconnaissance, two who were spectating having only done reconnaissance for the event, and only one as an active competitor). Markko Märtin's co-driver Michael Park's death at the 2005 Wales Rally GB was the WRC's first fatality in over eleven years. In April 2023 Hyundai driver Craig Breen died in crash. He was in Croatia conducting his pre-event test for the 2023 Croatia Rally in the week leading up to the reconnaissance and rally itself.

Drivers and co-drivers fatalities

IMC

NameRoleDate of accidentEventCarDuring
Flag of Japan.svg Eiichi MorinishiDriverFebruary 19701970 East African Safari Rally Datsun 1600 SSS Reconnaissance
Flag of Uganda.svg David NdahuraDriver28 March 19701970 East African Safari Rally Ford Cortina GT Rally
Flag of Kenya.svg Cyrus KamundiaDriverMarch 19711971 East African Safari Rally Datsun Reconnaissance
Flag of France.svg Christian Serradori [nb 1] Driver25 June 19711971 Coupe des Alpes [nb 2] Lancia Fulvia Rally
Flag of France.svg Yves Serradori [nb 1] Co-driver

WRC

NameRoleDate of accidentEventCarDuring
Flag of Finland.svg Seppo JämsäCo-driver2 August 19741974 1000 Lakes Rally Morris Mini 850 Rally
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Don DalyCo-driver27 November 19761976 RAC Rally Saab 99 EMS Rally
Flag of Brazil.svg Tomas FuchsDriver14 August 19821982 Rallye do Brasil Fiat 147 Rally
Flag of Finland.svg Reijo NygrenCo-driver26 August 19831983 1000 Lakes Rally Ford Escort RS Rally
Flag of Italy.svg Attilio Bettega Driver2 May 19851985 Tour de Corse Lancia 037 Rally Rally
Flag of Finland.svg Henri Toivonen Driver2 May 19861986 Tour de Corse Lancia Delta S4 Rally
Flag of the United States.svg Sergio Cresto Co-driver
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Jean-Michel ArgentiCo-driver7 May 19871987 Tour de Corse Peugeot 205 GTI Rally
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Jean-Marc DuboisDriver11 October 19881988 Rallye Sanremo Citroën AX Sport Rally
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Robert MoynierCo-driver
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg George MignotDriver2 January 19891989 Swedish Rally Volkswagen Golf Reconnaissance
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Bernard de LathuyCo-driver
Flag of Sweden.svg Lars-Erik Torph Driver23 January 19891989 Monte Carlo Rally Lancia Delta Integrale Rally [nb 3]
Flag of Sweden.svg Bertil-Rune RehnfeldtCo-driver
Flag of Portugal.svg Augusto MendesDriver1 March 19891989 Rallye de Portugal Opel Kadett GSI Rally
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Francis MalausseneCo-driver22 January 19901990 Monte Carlo Rally Renault 5 GT Turbo Rally
Flag of New Zealand.svg Rodger Freeth Co-driver18 September 19931993 Rally Australia Subaru Legacy RS Rally
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael Park Co-driver18 September 2005 2005 Wales Rally GB Peugeot 307 WRC Rally
Flag of Germany.svg Jörg Bastuck Co-driver24 March 2006 2006 Rally Catalunya Citroën C2 S1600 Rally [nb 4]
Flag of Ireland.svg Craig Breen Driver13 April 2023 2023 Croatia Rally Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Pre-event test

Other fatalities

Team members

At the 1975 Safari Rally, a service car with four mechanics crashed into a truck near Mombasa. Carlino Dacista, Brian Fernandez and Willie Uis died instantly. The driver David Joshi sustained serious injuries. [1] At the 1978 Monte Carlo Rally, two mechanics, Bernard Balmer and Georges Reinier, died when their van collided with a truck near Gap, Hautes-Alpes. [2] On the second day of the 1987 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire, Toyota Team Europe's Cessna 340 crashed and exploded, killing all four inside; manager and former co-driver Henry Liddon, his assistant Nigel Harris, the pilot and the navigator. Team manager Ove Andersson withdrew Toyota from the event. Prior to the accident, Björn Waldegård and Fred Gallagher had been running second in their Toyota Supra Turbo. [3] At the 1996 Safari Rally, competed in bad weather and rain, three British mechanics drowned while attempting to cross a river with their Land Rover. [4]

Officials

At the end of the fourth stage of the 1981 1000 Lakes Rally, Audi Sport driver Franz Wittmann and his co-driver Kurt Nestinger did not notice the flying finish which marks the end of the stage. They continued at race speed with their Quattro and crashed into a group of people standing in front of a van. Raul Falin, chairman of AKK, Finland's sporting authority for motorsport and the country's representative in the FIA, was quickly taken to a hospital but died from his injuries soon after. Boris Rung, co-founder and chairman of the European Rallycross Association and member of FIA's Off-Road Commission, survived the accident along with Greek FIA observer Costas Glossotis. [5]

Spectators

At the 1978 Safari Rally, five passers-by and four spectators were killed in unrelated accidents, both involving non-competitive drivers crashing into competitors. [6]

On the first stage of the 1986 Rally Portugal, Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200 while trying to avoid spectators on the road, crashing into a crowd of spectators, killing three and injuring over thirty. [7] All the factory teams – Audi, Austin Rover, Ford, Lancia, Peugeot and Volkswagen – withdrew from the event. [8]

At the 1996 1000 Lakes Rally, at a special stage that took place in the centre of Jyväskylä, one spectator died and 36 were injured when Danish driver Karsten Richardt lost control of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Rikhard reached the curve at 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph), finally hitting the crowd at 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph). [9]

At the 2017 Monte Carlo Rally, a spectator died after Hayden Paddon slid wide on a left-hand corner and went rear-first on the roadside embankment. [10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Unlike Corriere della Sera and Sport Auto, 28 June issue of Autosprint reports the last name of the French brothers as "Ferradori". The brothers died during the third stage of the rally, on Col de l'Iseran mountain pass, when their Lancia Fulvia went off the road and fell 200 meters (660 ft) into a ravine.
  2. ↑ Because the 1971 Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) ran with an insufficient number of starters, no points were awarded towards the championship.
  3. ↑ Lars-Erik Torph and Bertil-Rune Rehnfeldt only did the reconnaissance for the event, and then were spectating the fifth stage when Alex Fiorio lost control of his Lancia Delta Integrale, went off the road and crashed into them at about 145 km/h (90 mph).
  4. ↑ Following a crash on the second stage, JWRC contestant Aaron Burkart's co-driver Jörg Bastuck was changing a wheel when he was struck by the Ford Fiesta ST driven by Stobart M-Sport Ford's Barry Clark, who had lost control of his car and gone off at the same place.

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References

  1. ↑ "Carlino Dacista". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "Bernard Balmer". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Henry Liddon". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "1996 Safari Rally". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "Raul Falin". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "1978 Safari Rally". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "3 Portuguese spectators killed by skidding racer". St. Petersburg Times . 6 March 1986. p. 29.
  8. ↑ "20º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto". RallyBase. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Katsojaonnettomuus Jyväskylän Suurajoissa 23.8.1996" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "Spectator dies after Monte Carlo WRC crash" . Retrieved 20 January 2017.
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