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  1. Home
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  3. September
  4. 18
  5. Michael Park (co-driver)

Deaths on September 18

Michael Park (co-driver)
2005Sep, 18

Michael Park (co-driver)

Michael Park, English race car driver (b. 1966)
Michael Steven Park (22 June 1966 – 18 September 2005) was a rally co-driver from Newent in Gloucestershire. He worked with former world champions Richard Burns and Colin McRae as a gravel note expert while co-driving for both David Higgins and Mark Higgins in the British national series. His big break, however, came when he teamed up with the emerging Estonian talent Markko Märtin as a privateer pairing in a Toyota Corolla WRC for the 2000 World Rally Championship season.

After a number of strong performances, the pair were signed up by Subaru for 2001, before moving to Ford, where they evolved into one of the leading driver/co-driver combinations in the WRC. In 2003, they took two rally victories, in Greece and Finland, and improved on that figure with three wins in 2004 (Mexico, Corsica and Catalunya).

Park died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident on the final leg of Wales Rally Great Britain when his Peugeot 307 WRC left the road and struck a tree. Märtin and Park were lying fourth in the 2005 season's title race at the time, after securing four podiums in a season dominated by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb. Their performances had been instrumental in Peugeot's challenge for the manufacturer's championship, with the team lying six points behind French rivals Citroën.

After the crash, Märtin said "Park wasn't my co-driver, I was his pilot." Park's death was the first top-level rallying fatality since Rodger Freeth in the 1993 Rally Australia, and brought renewed attention to safety issues in the motorsport world.

On 20 June 2006, a memorial for Park was unveiled in Tallinn, Estonia.

References

  • Michael Park (co-driver)

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Events on 2005

  • 24Apr

    Pope Benedict XVI

    Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
  • 25Apr

    European Union

    Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
  • 17Aug

    Israeli disengagement from Gaza

    The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of Israeli disengagement from Gaza, starts.
  • 24Oct

    Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Florida

    Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida resulting in 35 direct 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage.
  • 30Oct

    Bombing of Dresden in World War II

    The rebuilt Dresden Frauenkirche (destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II) is reconsecrated after a thirteen-year rebuilding project.

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