Christian Saffa's Fatal Crash @ Rallye de Picardie 1990 (Aftermath)
- 5 months ago
French rally driver Christian Saffa was killed during the 15th edition of the Rallye de Picardie, a round of the 1990 French Rally Cup. The accident happened at 11h30 on Sunday, 07 October 1990, during the seventh special stage of the rally, in the village of Chaussoy-Epagny, Somme department in northern France.
While traveling at high speed along a long straight line, for unknown reason the yellow Renault 5 GT Turbo #57 driven by Christian Saffa left the road and went up an embankment. The car flew up in the air about 25-30 meters and then rolled over five times, before coming to rest in a field. During the rolls the driver was thrown through a door which was opened by the force of impact, being killed instantly.
Despite he was almost uninjured, Saffa's co-driver Frédéric Froment was transported to Amiens hospital. Winners of the rally were Jan-Hug Hazard-Gérard Caizergues in a BMW M3. This was reported to be the second fatality which marred the Rallye de Picardie in three years, after the death of co-driver Patrick Maine on 10 October 1987.
Christian Saffa started his career in the mid-1980s, at the wheel of a Peugeot 104 ZS, competing in rally-sprints, before switching to a Volkswagen Golf GTi 1.6. He scored two class wins in 1985 - in the Rallye Régional de Thiérache, with Patrick Mauro as co-driver and in the Ronde Régionale des Flandres, with Frédéric Froment. The Rallye de Picardie was his second start in the Renault 5 GT Turbo that he acquired in 1990. Earlier in the season he participated in the Rallye Régional de Thiérache, finishing fifth in his class, 14th place overall.
R.I.P
While traveling at high speed along a long straight line, for unknown reason the yellow Renault 5 GT Turbo #57 driven by Christian Saffa left the road and went up an embankment. The car flew up in the air about 25-30 meters and then rolled over five times, before coming to rest in a field. During the rolls the driver was thrown through a door which was opened by the force of impact, being killed instantly.
Despite he was almost uninjured, Saffa's co-driver Frédéric Froment was transported to Amiens hospital. Winners of the rally were Jan-Hug Hazard-Gérard Caizergues in a BMW M3. This was reported to be the second fatality which marred the Rallye de Picardie in three years, after the death of co-driver Patrick Maine on 10 October 1987.
Christian Saffa started his career in the mid-1980s, at the wheel of a Peugeot 104 ZS, competing in rally-sprints, before switching to a Volkswagen Golf GTi 1.6. He scored two class wins in 1985 - in the Rallye Régional de Thiérache, with Patrick Mauro as co-driver and in the Ronde Régionale des Flandres, with Frédéric Froment. The Rallye de Picardie was his second start in the Renault 5 GT Turbo that he acquired in 1990. Earlier in the season he participated in the Rallye Régional de Thiérache, finishing fifth in his class, 14th place overall.
R.I.P