A fatal accident occurred during the 43.89-kilometer (27.3-mile) seventh special stage "Burzet" of the 1990 Rallye de Monte-Carlo, on Monday, 22 January 1990. While passing between Ray-Pic cascades and the small village of Péreyres, in Ardèche department, southern France, the #153 Renault 5 GT Turbo of French team Jean-Claude Bertaudiére-Francis Mallaussène spun out of a corner and fell into a 200 meter deep ravine.
Bertaudiére was taken by helicopter to a local hospital and was listed in serious condition. His co-driver Francis Mallaussène, did not survive the accident.
Francis Mallaussène, 47-year-old, was an experienced rallyman, whose career began in the mid-1970s. Competing in both the roles of driver and co-driver, he was at his fourth start in the Rallye de Monte-Carlo, having previously reached the finish line only in 1987, when he was classified in 93rd place, co-driven by Maryline Tartarin in a Volkswagen Golf GTi. He was the owner of the Renault 5 GT Turbo, which he tried to sell a few months before the event and then he decided to participate in the Rallye de Monte-Carlo, along with French driver Jean-Claude Bertaudiére, 38-year-old, as driver. The pair raced together since 1989.
According to eyewitness report, Bertaudiére lost control of the car after hitting a patch of oil left on the road by the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 of Kenneth Eriksson-Staffan Parmander, which engine blew up while passing in the special stage, some moments earlier. Several competitors, including François Delecour who was part of the leading group of the rally, in a works Peugeot 309 GTI, had problems skidding on the oil patch in the same stretch.
R.I.P
Bertaudiére was taken by helicopter to a local hospital and was listed in serious condition. His co-driver Francis Mallaussène, did not survive the accident.
Francis Mallaussène, 47-year-old, was an experienced rallyman, whose career began in the mid-1970s. Competing in both the roles of driver and co-driver, he was at his fourth start in the Rallye de Monte-Carlo, having previously reached the finish line only in 1987, when he was classified in 93rd place, co-driven by Maryline Tartarin in a Volkswagen Golf GTi. He was the owner of the Renault 5 GT Turbo, which he tried to sell a few months before the event and then he decided to participate in the Rallye de Monte-Carlo, along with French driver Jean-Claude Bertaudiére, 38-year-old, as driver. The pair raced together since 1989.
According to eyewitness report, Bertaudiére lost control of the car after hitting a patch of oil left on the road by the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 of Kenneth Eriksson-Staffan Parmander, which engine blew up while passing in the special stage, some moments earlier. Several competitors, including François Delecour who was part of the leading group of the rally, in a works Peugeot 309 GTI, had problems skidding on the oil patch in the same stretch.
R.I.P
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Motor