Road rally map query

Driver died after hitting stump

AN experienced rally car driver died instantly from a broken neck and a torn aorta after crashing into a large tree stump during a competition in the state’s North, a coroner has found.

Darren Stuart Clark, 49, was declared dead at the Forester crash scene, east of Launceston, during the Scottsdale Classic Rally in August 2017.

In a record of investigation into death released yesterday, Coroner Simon Cooper found the crash occurred when Mr Clark turned at speed into a left-hand bend.

He said a road book provided to competitors did not include a caution showing the stump, in an apparent breach of the National Rally Code.

Mr Clark and his navigator Keegan Buckley were competing in a restored 1979 Mazda RX7 sports car when the accident occurred on an unsealed forestry road during one of the event’s competitive stages.

They were competing in the “classic rally car class”, aimed at presenting classic vehicles in similar form as they were 30 years ago during the rally-car era.

The duo entered a stage on Williams Hill Rd at about 90km/h — the second car on the stage.

While Mr Clark reduced the speed to 82.8km/h, he lost control and the vehicle drifted towards the right-hand edge of the road, beginning a clockwise rotation.

The driver’s side impacted with a 1m high, 1.75m wide tree stump, detaching the door from its hinges, forcing it inwards, and seriously damaging the car’s structure.

The next vehicle to enter the stage arrived about a minute later, with the competitor raising the alarm and extinguishing Mr Clark’s engine, which had caught fire.

The man was unable to detect any signs of life on Mr Clark.

However, he noted Mr Buckley was unconscious but breathing.

Paramedics were unable to resuscitate Mr Clark and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Buckley was taken to hospital, where he made a good recovery.

Coroner Cooper noted no drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash.

He found Mr Clark and Mr Buckley were experienced and licensed, were wearing helmets and seatbelts, and the Mazda was mechanically sound.

He said the vehicle log book should have been marked with a caution note about the tree stump.

“The injuries he suffered in the crash were unsurvivable and his death was effectively instantaneous,” he said in his finding.

“It is clear that the fatal crash occurred when Mr Clark lost control of his vehicle as he entered, at speed, a left-hand bend. Less clear is what contribution was made to the happening of the crash by the deficiencies identified in the road book.

“The stump or log should, in my view, have been marked with a caution ... because it was not marked, no driver or navigator had warning of its presence.”