The Rally of Germany was halted today following the death of a driver and co-driver in a side-event.
A Dutch duo died after their vintage car crashed off the track in a demonstration event not connected to the championship, race organizers said. No other people were involved in the accident. The identities of the men were not released.
The last three of today’s stages were cancelled, with the rally to continue as per the original schedule tomorrow.
Earlier this month, a female driver and co-driver died after a crash during the 54th Wartburg Rally in central Germany.
In the main event, Dani Sordo of Spain was leading in his Citroen after 13 stages, 0.8 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Thierry Neuville in a Ford Fiesta.
“They were very slippery conditions,” Sordo said. “I’m very happy. I did a good stage, but I don’t want to speak a lot yet because there are difficult conditions in the next stages.”
Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was third in another Citroen, 1 minute 27.6 seconds behind Sordo, who trails championship leader Sebastien Ogier by 112 points in the overall standings.
Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala was leading but crashed on the 12th stage, ripping a brake disc from his Volkswagen Polo. He tried to continue but retired before the finish.
Neuville crashed on the same stage but managed to finish.
“We are lucky to be here at all because many cars hit trouble in that stage,” Neuville said.
Ogier’s hopes of wrapping up the overall title in the ninth of the 13-race series were dashed in Friday’s opening stage, when the Frenchman went off the road and broke the front left suspension in his Volkswagen Polo.
