Michael Park (co-driver) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Michael Park was a rally

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

co-driver

Co-driver

Co-driver is the term given to the navigator of rally car in the sport of rally racing, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver, often over a radio headset, due to the high level of noise in the car...

from Newent

Newent

Newent is a small market town about 8 miles north west of Gloucester City, on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean, and lying within the Forest of Dean Local Authority District. Its population at the 2001 census was 5,073...

in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

One of the top co-drivers of his generation, Park died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident

Car accident

A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...

on the final leg of Wales Rally Great Britain when his Peugeot 307 WRC left the road and struck a tree. As co-driver to Markko Märtin

Markko Märtin

Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...

, 'Beef', as he was affectionately known, enjoyed considerable success with the Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n during three seasons at Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

before joining Peugeot

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

for 2005.

A rally enthusiast since the age of ten, he gained experience with some of Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's top talents. He worked with former world champions Richard Burns

Richard Burns

Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002...

and Colin McRae

Colin McRae

Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...

as a gravel note expert while co-driving for both David Higgins and Mark Higgins in the British national series. His big break, however, came when he teamed up with the emerging Estonia

Estonia

n talent Markko Märtin

Markko Märtin

Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...

as a privateer pairing in a Toyota Corolla

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million...

for the 2000 World Rally Championship season.

After a string of impressive performances, the pair were signed up by Subaru

Subaru

; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...

for 2001, before moving to Ford, where they evolved into one of the leading driver/co-driver combinations in the WRC. In 2003, they took two rally victories, in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

and Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, and improved on that figure with three wins in 2004 (Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

and Catalunya).

Perhaps known best for his keen sense of humour and his distinctive St George's Cross

St George's Cross

St George's Cross is a red cross on a white background used as a symbolic reference to Saint George. The red cross on white was associated with St George from medieval times....

helmet, 'Beef' Park became a fan favourite, especially in his native England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and (nearly-adopted) Estonia

Estonia

. His driver Markko Märtin once joked that he gave him a "9/10" - lacking one point only because he didn't speak Estonian. After the crash, an emotional Markko said "Park wasn't my co-driver, I was his pilot."

The pair were lying fourth in the 2005 season's title race after securing four podiums in a season dominated by Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

's Sébastien Loeb

Sébastien Loeb

Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...

when the accident occurred. Their performances had been instrumental in Peugeot

Peugeot

's challenge for the manufacturer's championship, with the team lying six points behind French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

rivals Citroën.

Park is survived by his wife Marie and children William and Victoria. His death, the first top-level rallying fatality since Rodger Freeth

Rodger Freeth

Rodger Freeth, Ph.D., was a New Zealand motor sport competitor.He held a Ph.D. in Physics and had a distinguished academic and motorsport career. His first love was motorcycles and whilst he was still at university he built a radical Yamaha TZ750A with an aerofoil...

in the 1993 Rally Australia, brought renewed attention to safety issues in the motorsport world.

On 20 June 2006, a memorial for Park was unveiled in Tallinn

Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

, Estonia

Estonia

WRC victories

Number	Event	Season	Driver	Car
1	Greece 50 th BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece	2003	Markko Märtin Markko Märtin Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...	Ford Focus RS Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
2	Finland 53rd Neste Rally Finland Rally Finland The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....	2003	Markko Märtin Markko Märtin Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...	Ford Focus RS Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
3	Mexico 18º Corona Rally México Rally Mexico The Corona Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato...	2004	Markko Märtin Markko Märtin Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...	Ford Focus RS Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
4	Early Modern France 48ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse - Rallye de France is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was part of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season to 2008. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features...	2004	Markko Märtin Markko Märtin Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...	Ford Focus RS Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
5	Spain 40º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España) Rally Catalunya The Rally Catalunya is a rally competition on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Catalonia, Spain, it was previously held around the region of Costa Brava...	2004	Markko Märtin Markko Märtin Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...	Ford Focus RS Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...

External links

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