The thirteenth edition of the Rallye de l'Yonne, also known as Rallye des Cerisers, held on Saturday, 23 September 2000, was marred by a huge accident that claimed the lives of five persons.
The Subaru Impreza WRX, reg. plate H215ENX, bearing the race number #1, driven by Corsican Marco Massarotto, 38, went out of control during the sixth special stage of the rally, after landing awkwardly after a jump over the Pimançon crest. Located in the village of Dixmont, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) south of Sens in the Yonne departement, Bourgogne, France, it was a spectacular bump along a straightaway where the vehicles arrived at 140 to 180 km/h (87 to 112 mi/h).
Massarotto's car veered to the left side and then turned sharply to the right, going off the paved road. The car hit a concrete electric pole, rolled over at high speed and mowed several spectators - killing four of them. The force of the impact caused the pole to collapse and to fell on top of the car. Massarotto was killed at the scene, his co-driver Philippe Delcroix and eight other spectators were seriously injured.
The four deceased spectators were:
Mickael Jouan, aged 8 from Sens, Yonne department;
Arlette Diez, 47-year-old, from Mirecourt, Vosges department;
Gaëlle Granger, 21, from Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain department;
Christophe Hivert, 20, from Nevers, Nièvre department. It is believed that without hitting the electric pole, the car would have ended up directly in the crawd, causing an even wider massacre.
R.I.P
