Francisco Dávalos Valenzuela's Fatal Crash @ Carrera Panamericana 2012 (Aftermath)
- 8 months ago
On the opening day of the race, while traveling at high speed along the federal road N 150 in the mountain stretch Puerto del Aire-Azumbilla, the 1954 Studebaker #452 (formerly entered with #130) driven by the brothers Roberto and Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela went out of control on the approach to the fast bend called "El Topollo", near Puerto del Aire, state of Puebla, Mexico. The car left the road, hit an embankment and fell into a ravine, coming to rest upside down 100 meters below, after rolling almost six times. The white and blue Studebaker which was entered in the Turismo Mayor class, was totalled.
An ambulance reached the place of accident in a matter of minutes, but doctors could do nothing to save the life of co-driver Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela, who sustained massive head injuries and was killed on the spot. His brother Roberto Dávalos Valenzuela who was at the wheel of the car, was hospitalized in critical condition at the Clínica del Sagrado Corazón in Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico.
Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela, 60-year old from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico and his brother Roberto were regular competitors in recent years in historic racing events, including the classic Carrera Panamericana road race.
The accident occurred at 11h30 on Friday, 19 November 2012, during the third speed section of the 487.7 kilometers (303.1 miles) first stage Veracruz - Oaxaca. It is believed that the crash was caused by a punctured tyre or by sudden mechanical failure .
The 2012 Carrera Panamericana was marred by a number of accidents, that resulted in the deaths of two other men. Several hours before Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela's death, Rafael Gómez Ruiz, a non-competing motorcyclist who followed the race in a service bike, was killed during a displacement stage. On the last day of the race, Brock Weidner from Alaska, died of heart attack at the wheel of his car while lining up for the last timed sector, in the village of La Bufa, state of Zacatecas, Mexico.
R.I.P
An ambulance reached the place of accident in a matter of minutes, but doctors could do nothing to save the life of co-driver Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela, who sustained massive head injuries and was killed on the spot. His brother Roberto Dávalos Valenzuela who was at the wheel of the car, was hospitalized in critical condition at the Clínica del Sagrado Corazón in Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico.
Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela, 60-year old from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico and his brother Roberto were regular competitors in recent years in historic racing events, including the classic Carrera Panamericana road race.
The accident occurred at 11h30 on Friday, 19 November 2012, during the third speed section of the 487.7 kilometers (303.1 miles) first stage Veracruz - Oaxaca. It is believed that the crash was caused by a punctured tyre or by sudden mechanical failure .
The 2012 Carrera Panamericana was marred by a number of accidents, that resulted in the deaths of two other men. Several hours before Francisco Javier Dávalos Valenzuela's death, Rafael Gómez Ruiz, a non-competing motorcyclist who followed the race in a service bike, was killed during a displacement stage. On the last day of the race, Brock Weidner from Alaska, died of heart attack at the wheel of his car while lining up for the last timed sector, in the village of La Bufa, state of Zacatecas, Mexico.
R.I.P