Competitor dies during Maine road rally race through forest
NEWRY, Maine (AP) — A competitor was killed in a crash on the first day of a rally race through a forest in western Maine, leading organizers to cancel the event’s second day.
Erin Kelly, a 48-year-old woman from Marshall, Virginia, was killed Friday when her team’s car crashed near Lower Richardson Lake during the New England Forest Rally, where vehicles race along rural backroads and logging tracks near Maine’s border with New Hampshire, WMTW-TV reported.
On her LinkedIn page, Kelly wrote that she had been navigating cars part-time as a hobby for the Pullen Away Rally Team since 2015.
In rally racing, navigators sit next to the drivers and read out course notes such as when to expect turns.
The team, which says on its Facebook page that it is based in Northwood, New Hampshire, didn’t immediately respond to a Facebook message or email seeking further information about the crash.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which a photo published by WMTW-TV shows wrecked the car. The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
The American Rally Association, which sanctioned the race, said in a statement Saturday that the New England Forest Rally decided to cancel the rest of the event. It also said it and the rally organizers expressed their “deepest condolences to Erin’s team, family and many friends throughout the rally community.”
The lake is about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Newry, in northwestern Maine.