Laura Salvo, a Spanish rally co-driver died in a horrendous car crash on Oct. 10, 2020. The 21-year-old was competing in the first stage of the Rally Vidreiro was held earlier today in Portugal.
Salvo’s vehicle reportedly veered off the road, where the right-hand side of the vehicle slammed into a tree. The car was driven by rally driver, Miguel Socias. Paramedics were able to reach the scene of the crash within two minutes.
Medics quickly worked trying to resuscitate Salvo, however, were unable to do so.
According to the commander of the Marinha Grande Volunteer Firefighters, Vítor Graça reported the car was almost “500/600 meters from the beginning of the first section, when it hit a pine tree.”
She had been trapped inside the vehicle, upon her removal she suffered from cardiac arrest. She has been co-driving since 2015. Initial attempts resuscitation attempts were successful and she was transported to a landing zone located roughly 980 feet away.
A helicopter sat waiting to transport her to the hospital, however she passed 15 minutes after being taken from the wreckage. The president of the Marina Grande Automobile Club explained the situation during the LiveStreaming of the competition.
“Competitor Laura Salvo, who was competing as a navigator in the Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica, suffered an accident at the beginning of the first stage that caused her death.”
Socias and Salvo had competed together in the SuzukiSwift Cup last season. They started off 2020 winning the Rally del Bierzo.
Rally driving runs strongly in the Salvo family. Her sister, Maria, is a well-known rally co-driver and her father, Gabriel, was a rally driver.
After news broke of the rally driver’s death many people took to social media to pay their respects to the Salvo family. Many voiced how sad they are to hear about what happened.
One person, Christopher Sharp tweeted, “So the only time the broadsheets want to write about #rallying is when a crash or something as tragic as this happens.” He followed that with how he felt it was “Disgusting, My thoughts though go out to the family and friends of #LauraSalvo.”
The Royal Spanish Automobile Federation, Autonomous Federation of the Valencian Community, and Autosport are just some of the people who have paid their respects to the young driver.
After her death, the Portuguese rally was abandoned.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
The Daily Mail: Spanish rally co-driver Laura Salvo dies in crash aged 21: Horror at Rally Videiro in Portugal as car careers off road and smashes into a pine tree; EMER SCULLY FOR MAILONLINE
ESPN: Spanish co-driver Laura Salvo dies in crash at rally in Portugal; Associated Press
The U.S. Sun: RACING TRAGEDY Laura Salvo dead at 21: Spanish rally car co-driver dies in horror crash at Rally Vidreiro in Portugal; Joe Miles
Featured And Top Image Courtesy of Pablo Fernández’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of RENAULT SPORT’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
