Isn’t it sad how some drivers are afforded less attention then others, even in death? As I suppose it’s near impossible to keep track of and pronounce every racing driver’s untimely passing.
Nevertheless I was unaware of Rafael Sperafico’s untimely passing until coming upon the story buried in the mostly unread sections of a particular website.
At the youthful age of 27, Rafael was killed while competing in the final round of the Brazilian Stock Car Light Championship at the Interlagos circuit. Rafael’s cousins Ricardo and Alex Sperafico were both ex-Champ Car competitors, while cousin Rodrigo was the fourth member of best known Sperafico racers, of which 10 have competed in various forms of motor racing.
With Rafael running second, upon loosing control his car careened back onto the track directly in the path of oncoming competitors and died instantly upon being struck directly on the driver’s side of his race car. Ironically the accident occurred in the very same corner as Fernando Alonso’s heaviest Formula 1 crash to date, which occurred during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
“The race was red-flagged and terminated at the spot. The Stock Car Light championship is a feeding series to Brazil’s top racing rung, the Copa Nextel Stock Car, where several ex-international drivers like Antonio Pizzonia, Ricardo Zonta, Tarso Marques, Enrique Bernoldi, Luciano Burti and Hoover Orsi compete. On the Nextel race that preceded the Light event, Rafael's cousin Rodrigo Sperafico finished fourth to clinch this year's runner-up title…”
