List of fatal World Rally Championship accidents

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.

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 a 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

Name	Role	Date of accident	Event	Car	During
Eiichi Morinishi	Driver	February 1970	1970 East African Safari Rally	Datsun 1600 SSS	Reconnaissance
David Ndahura	Driver	28 March 1970	1970 East African Safari Rally	Ford Cortina GT	Rally
Cyrus Kamundia	Driver	March 1971	1971 East African Safari Rally	Datsun	Reconnaissance
Christian Serradori^{[nb 1]}	Driver	25 June 1971	1971 Coupe des Alpes^{[nb 2]}	Lancia Fulvia	Rally
Yves Serradori^{[nb 1]}	Co-driver	25 June 1971	1971 Coupe des Alpes^{[nb 2]}	Lancia Fulvia	Rally

WRC

Name	Role	Date of accident	Event	Car	During
Seppo Jämsä	Co-driver	2 August 1974	1974 1000 Lakes Rally	Morris Mini 850	Rally
Don Daly	Co-driver	27 November 1976	1976 RAC Rally	Saab 99 EMS	Rally
Tomas Fuchs	Driver	14 August 1982	1982 Rallye do Brasil	Fiat 147	Rally
Reijo Nygren	Co-driver	26 August 1983	1983 1000 Lakes Rally	Ford Escort RS	Rally
Attilio Bettega	Driver	2 May 1985	1985 Tour de Corse	Lancia 037 Rally	Rally
Henri Toivonen	Driver	2 May 1986	1986 Tour de Corse	Lancia Delta S4	Rally
Sergio Cresto	Co-driver	2 May 1986	1986 Tour de Corse	Lancia Delta S4	Rally
Jean-Michel Argenti	Co-driver	7 May 1987	1987 Tour de Corse	Peugeot 205 GTI	Rally
Jean-Marc Dubois	Driver	11 October 1988	1988 Rallye Sanremo	Citroën AX Sport	Rally
Robert Moynier	Co-driver	11 October 1988	1988 Rallye Sanremo	Citroën AX Sport	Rally
George Mignot	Driver	2 January 1989	1989 Swedish Rally	Volkswagen Golf	Reconnaissance
Bernard de Lathuy	Co-driver	2 January 1989	1989 Swedish Rally	Volkswagen Golf	Reconnaissance
Lars-Erik Torph	Driver	23 January 1989	1989 Monte Carlo Rally	Lancia Delta Integrale	Rally^{[nb 3]}
Bertil-Rune Rehnfeldt	Co-driver	23 January 1989	1989 Monte Carlo Rally	Lancia Delta Integrale	Rally^{[nb 3]}
Augusto Mendes	Driver	1 March 1989	1989 Rallye de Portugal	Opel Kadett GSI	Rally
Francis Malaussene	Co-driver	22 January 1990	1990 Monte Carlo Rally	Renault 5 GT Turbo	Rally
Rodger Freeth	Co-driver	18 September 1993	1993 Rally Australia	Subaru Legacy RS	Rally
Michael Park	Co-driver	18 September 2005	2005 Wales Rally GB	Peugeot 307 WRC	Rally
Jörg Bastuck	Co-driver	24 March 2006	2006 Rally Catalunya	Citroën C2 S1600	Rally^{[nb 4]}
Craig Breen	Driver	13 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

^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Because the 1971 Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) ran with an insufficient number of starters, no points were awarded towards the championship.
^ 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).
^ 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.

References

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

[Serradori-1] 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.

[Coupe_des_Alpes-2] Because the 1971 Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Rally) ran with an insufficient number of starters, no points were awarded towards the championship.

[Torph-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).

[2006_Catalunya-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.

[5] "Carlino Dacista". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[6] "Bernard Balmer". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[7] "Henry Liddon". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[8] "1996 Safari Rally". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[9] "Raul Falin". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[10] "1978 Safari Rally". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[11] "3 Portuguese spectators killed by skidding racer". St. Petersburg Times. 6 March 1986. p. 29.

[12] "20º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto". RallyBase. Retrieved 18 September 2008.

[13] "Katsojaonnettomuus Jyväskylän Suurajoissa 23.8.1996" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.

[14] "Spectator dies after Monte Carlo WRC crash". Retrieved 20 January 2017.

[nb 1]

[nb 2]

[nb 3]

[nb 4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]