Co-driver to Jan Vaníček in the #65 Toyota Celica GT-4, Jaroslav Starý lost his life in an accident during the 2015 edition of the Rally Orlické Hory.

The car driven by Jan Vaníček, 53, left the road at high speed during the first special stage “Bystré - Dobřany 1”, held on Saturday, 13 June 2015 morning. The red Toyota crashed into an utility pole on co-driver’s side, near the small town of Dobruška, in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Despite the immediate intervention of medical crews, Jaroslav Starý, 62-year-old, was killed at the scene. The driver Jan Vaníček survived the accident.

After the tragedy the event was initially stopped and was definitely abandoned after the conclusion of the third special stage. This was the fifth edition of the Yokohama Rally Orlické hory, then a round of the 2015 Czech-Moravian Rally Cup ČMPR-Českomoravský pohár rallye.

An experienced rally navigator, Jaroslav Starý started his career in the early 1980s, competing with his friend Jan Tomáš in a Škoda 110L. He gave up racing for a while and came back to the sport only in 2014.

R.I.P