Tehran, YJC. Iran's first international rally was hit by tragedy Friday with the death of a co-driver when his car turned over and barrel-rolled.
Arash Ramin Yekta, team-mate of Hossein Ghodsi, was killed
in the accident which took place on the first stage of the second day of the
Shiraz Rally, AFP reported on Friday.
His Saipa team as well as others immediately decided to
withdraw from the event.
"The rally wasn't cancelled but we decided not to
organise the last part of the race following the accident," said Hamid
Reza Mehr-Ali, the president of the Iran motorsports federation.
"The organisation of the rally and the security
measures were very good," added Hani Shaban, the organiser of the event.
The rally had started on Thursday and featured cars racing
in and around Persepolis, around 50km from Shiraz in the south of the country.
Lebanon's Roger Feghali was leading the rally ahead of
Qatar's Khalifa Saleh al-Attiyah.
An Iranian woman driver, Laleh Seddigh, also took part.