Park death ruled accidental

Park, Markko Martin's co-driver, was killed on the Wales Rally GB in September when their car left the road on the penultimate stage and hit a tree.

The Coroner, Dr David Osborne, determined that Park, 39, died instantly of multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic accident.

Paramedics were on the scene within five minutes and spent 40 minutes trying to revive Park, but medics said he had died instantly.

The Coroner recorded the verdict saying that there were no mechanical failures on the Peugeot 307, and that the accident was one of the risks accepted within the sport.

Martin gave his account of the accident at the inquest.

"I've never had many accidents in rallying terms," Martin was quoted as saying in the South Wales Evening Post. "On the day of this death, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was quite a fast part of the stage, and all I remember is realising we were going to go off the road.

"Once the car was out of control and had left the track, there was nothing I could've done. I did the best I could, but it was a difficult place with the trees close to the road.

"There was nowhere to go. We just had to hope we got lucky."