The Annonean basin rally will forever be marked by drama. During the penultimate special n°8, crew n°19 went off the road in Vernosc-lès-Annonay, in the north of the Ardèche, reports the local newspaper Weekly Ardeche. This Saturday, around 7 p.m., a crew entered in the 26th edition of this national rally was the victim of a violent exit from the road, according to witnesses: the vehicle, a Renault Clio 3 RS, ended its race 100 m from the causeway and 40 m below, in the river Cance.
According to Chérie FM Vallée du Rhône, the car caught fire. The pilot, Nathanaël Degrange and the co-pilot, Benoît Surot, from Savoie specifies The liberated Dauphiné, lost their lives. The age of the victims is not yet known. More than 40 firefighters as well as the gendarmes of the Tournon-sur-Rhône company are engaged on the spot.
The organizer of the 26th National Rally of the Annonean Basin, ASA Haut-Vivarais, declared in a press release the premature end of the competition: “Following the dramatic exit from the road of competitor number 19 in SS number 8, the race management stops the 26th National Rally of the Annonean Basin at 6:57 p.m.