Osvaldo Gallerani's Fatal Crash @ Potrero de los Funes 1987 (Aftermath)
- 5 months ago
A number of accidents that resulted in the death of a man and seven others injured, happened during the "Premio Rosendo Hernández", the first and only Turismo Carretera event held in Potrero de los Funes, on Saturday, 15 August 1987. It was a dangerous 6.206-kilometer mountain circuit, located 14 kilometers from San Luis, the capital city of the San Luis Province in central Argentina, created along the public roads that encircles the Potrero de los Funes lake. More than twenty thousands of spectators were watching the race which was the 10th round of the 1987 Campeonato Argentino de Turismo Carretera.
On lap two of the 7-lap second heat, an accident caused the event to be suspended. Driver Ruben Roux crashed into Jorge Aurelio Martínez' car, which was parked on track due to radiator failure. Roux's acompañante Angel Borrelli sustained injuries, the other competitors escaped unhurt. The Automóvil Club de San Luis that organized the event, decided to postpone the remainder of the race until the following day.
On Sunday, 16 August 1987 morning, racing then resumed, but minutes after the start, the event was marred by another huge accident. While battling for the second position, the cars of Johnny De Benedictis and Jorge Oyhanart collided, left the road in a stretch of the route where many spectators were standing, watching the competition, and ran over the crowd.
A family that came from Tunuyán, province of Mendoza, was struck by De Benedictis' Dodge. The father Osvaldo Gallerani was killed almost instantly, and his three sons, María Soledad, Diego and Jaime, sustained serious injuries. It was reported that in the following days one or even two of the children would die. But this is not true. In a magazine interview, 21 years later Diego Gallerani who at the time was 12 years old, said that his two brothers eventually recovered. In consequence of their father's death, the family sold the business that he had created and four years later also their mother died of cancer. The surname of the deceased spectator is reported by one source as Gallerino instead of Gallerani, this has not yet been confirmed.
Winner of the second heat was Roberto Mouras in a Chevrolet, at an average speed of 116.169 km/h (72.2 mi/h), who eventually was declared also winner of the final race which was suspended and shortened after only two laps, due to other accidents and only half points were attributed. First Julio Roberto Colabello and René Ducret collided, being critically injured. Both of them were taken to hospital and also Colabello's co-driver Domingo Didio was hospitalized. Colabello who sustained chest injuries, was later transferred to the Sanatorio Guemes in Buenos Aires, where he underwent extensive surgery and remained in serious condition for several weeks until a complete recovery.
R.I.P
On lap two of the 7-lap second heat, an accident caused the event to be suspended. Driver Ruben Roux crashed into Jorge Aurelio Martínez' car, which was parked on track due to radiator failure. Roux's acompañante Angel Borrelli sustained injuries, the other competitors escaped unhurt. The Automóvil Club de San Luis that organized the event, decided to postpone the remainder of the race until the following day.
On Sunday, 16 August 1987 morning, racing then resumed, but minutes after the start, the event was marred by another huge accident. While battling for the second position, the cars of Johnny De Benedictis and Jorge Oyhanart collided, left the road in a stretch of the route where many spectators were standing, watching the competition, and ran over the crowd.
A family that came from Tunuyán, province of Mendoza, was struck by De Benedictis' Dodge. The father Osvaldo Gallerani was killed almost instantly, and his three sons, María Soledad, Diego and Jaime, sustained serious injuries. It was reported that in the following days one or even two of the children would die. But this is not true. In a magazine interview, 21 years later Diego Gallerani who at the time was 12 years old, said that his two brothers eventually recovered. In consequence of their father's death, the family sold the business that he had created and four years later also their mother died of cancer. The surname of the deceased spectator is reported by one source as Gallerino instead of Gallerani, this has not yet been confirmed.
Winner of the second heat was Roberto Mouras in a Chevrolet, at an average speed of 116.169 km/h (72.2 mi/h), who eventually was declared also winner of the final race which was suspended and shortened after only two laps, due to other accidents and only half points were attributed. First Julio Roberto Colabello and René Ducret collided, being critically injured. Both of them were taken to hospital and also Colabello's co-driver Domingo Didio was hospitalized. Colabello who sustained chest injuries, was later transferred to the Sanatorio Guemes in Buenos Aires, where he underwent extensive surgery and remained in serious condition for several weeks until a complete recovery.
R.I.P