Jiří Kocourek's Fatal Crash @ Barum Rally 2012
- 7 months ago
One spectator was killed and another severely injured during the 2012 Barum Rally held in Czech Republic.
The accident occurred at about 12h30 on Sunday, 02 September 2012, during the thirteenth of the planned 15 special stages of the rally, near the village of Halenkovice, in Zlín District, Czech Republic. The Subaru Impreza STi #32 of Václav Kopáček-Tomáš Singer went out of control on the approach to a fast left-hander, at approximate speed of 160 km/h. The car hit a group of spectators while hugging the inside of the bend then bouncing and rolling on the other side of the road.
A Czech male spectator, Jiří Kocourek, 53, was killed almost immediately. Paramedics tried to revive him at the scene, but couldn't save his life. A senior engineer fireman by trade, married and father of three daughters, and a motorsport enthusiast from Benešov u Semil, Czech Republic, Jiří Kocourek had come to Halenkovice to watch the rally as a spectator. Another Hungarian male spectator suffered non-life threatening injuries, being treated in a local hospital.
The driver Václav Kopáček and his co-driver Tomáš Singer, were not injured. It was reported that Kopáček had sustained other crashes in his last rally starts.
This was the 42nd edition of the Barum Rally, ninth round of the 2012 IRC - Intercontinental Rally Challenge, held in the Moravia region of the Czech Republic. After the accident, the clerk of the course decided to stop the event after the 14th and penultimate special stage, which was annulled. Škoda Motosport factory drivers Juno Hänninen-Mikko Markkula from Finland, who were in the lead at the end of the 13rd special stage, were declared winners of the rally, from Czech teams Roman Kresta-Petr Gross second, and Tomáš Kostka-Miroslav Houšť third, all of them driving Škoda Fabia S2000 cars. Hänninen's victory secured him the 2012 European Rally Championship title.
This was the third rally fatality which happened in Czech Republic in 2012. It occurred less than two months since the accident that claimed the life of Czech co-driver Bohuslav Ceplecha during the Rallye Bohemia, on 14 July 2012. Another rally co-driver, Aleš Zimolka, was killed on 26 May 2012 during the Rallye Český Krumlov.
R.I.P
The accident occurred at about 12h30 on Sunday, 02 September 2012, during the thirteenth of the planned 15 special stages of the rally, near the village of Halenkovice, in Zlín District, Czech Republic. The Subaru Impreza STi #32 of Václav Kopáček-Tomáš Singer went out of control on the approach to a fast left-hander, at approximate speed of 160 km/h. The car hit a group of spectators while hugging the inside of the bend then bouncing and rolling on the other side of the road.
A Czech male spectator, Jiří Kocourek, 53, was killed almost immediately. Paramedics tried to revive him at the scene, but couldn't save his life. A senior engineer fireman by trade, married and father of three daughters, and a motorsport enthusiast from Benešov u Semil, Czech Republic, Jiří Kocourek had come to Halenkovice to watch the rally as a spectator. Another Hungarian male spectator suffered non-life threatening injuries, being treated in a local hospital.
The driver Václav Kopáček and his co-driver Tomáš Singer, were not injured. It was reported that Kopáček had sustained other crashes in his last rally starts.
This was the 42nd edition of the Barum Rally, ninth round of the 2012 IRC - Intercontinental Rally Challenge, held in the Moravia region of the Czech Republic. After the accident, the clerk of the course decided to stop the event after the 14th and penultimate special stage, which was annulled. Škoda Motosport factory drivers Juno Hänninen-Mikko Markkula from Finland, who were in the lead at the end of the 13rd special stage, were declared winners of the rally, from Czech teams Roman Kresta-Petr Gross second, and Tomáš Kostka-Miroslav Houšť third, all of them driving Škoda Fabia S2000 cars. Hänninen's victory secured him the 2012 European Rally Championship title.
This was the third rally fatality which happened in Czech Republic in 2012. It occurred less than two months since the accident that claimed the life of Czech co-driver Bohuslav Ceplecha during the Rallye Bohemia, on 14 July 2012. Another rally co-driver, Aleš Zimolka, was killed on 26 May 2012 during the Rallye Český Krumlov.
R.I.P