Italian navigator dies during Rally of Bulgaria

Italian navigator Flavio Gugelmini was killed after a crash during the seventh stage of the Rally of Bulgaria, the organisers said yesterday.

Swiss driver Brian Lavio, who was slightly injured in the accident, was taken to hospital in the provincial town of Velingrad as a precautionary measure.

Rally organisers said a Peugeot 207 S2000, driven by Lavio, went off the road before crashing into a rock near the track.

The two-day event, part of the European Rally Championship, was stopped after the crash with all the competitors observing a one-minute silence as a mark of respect to Gugelmini.

"It's a big tragedy," the Bulgarian automobile federation's president Georgi Yanakiev told reporters.

"We reacted in the quickest possible way but unfortunately we couldn't do anything to avoid it (the death)."

The death occurred at a time when race directors are trying to convince International Automobile Federation (FIA) observers that Bulgaria is ready to host a World Rally Championship (WRC) race.

The Balkan country has been listed provisionally on the WRC calendar next year with officials saying they would take a final decision in September.