nichosnz 0 Report post Posted April 28, 2003 One of New Zealand's greatest drivers ever, Peter "Possum" Borne, is about to die in a hospital in Dunedin, in the South of New Zealand. On Good Friday, he and another driver were independantly of each other, were doing a recce of the route of the upcoming Race to the Sky, when they collided head on. Possom was rushed to hospital and placed in a drug induced coma. Then just last night at 7:00pm local time his family announced that the life support was to be switched off, he is not expected to pull through. Possum regulaly scored points in the WRC championship only competeing in the New Zealand and Australian events, usually in a year old Subaru. He also won numerous New Zealand, Australia and Asia-Pacific rally championships. He is the reining Australian Champion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 Jens 0 Report post Posted April 28, 2003 Sad story indeed, I've been following the story since it happened on the 18th. Australian news reports now that he has indeed passed away, really sad considering the freak accident he was in. RIP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thor 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 How old was he? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 Jens 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 He was 47, there hasn't been an official confirmation yet on his passing, but I would be amazed if he pulled through considering how severe the crash was... Another rally driver, Belgian champion Rocco Theunissen, died of meningitis last week in a hospital on the island of Malta. He'd been feeling unwell for a while, but was diagnosed with the disease too late... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nichosnz 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 Did you see a pic of the vehicles, they were a huge mess. Jens mentioned he was 47, the accident was just a week past his 47th birthday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 Jens 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 I haven't seen the pictures of the crash, haven't been able to find any. I'd be interested in seeing them though, purely for the reason that I could see the extent of the damage. Otherwise seeing a car which might have ended someone's life is not in my interests... EDIT: I just found a news site from New Zealand, One News (probably familiar to you Nichos?), and they had the video clip of the news report online from 18 April which had some footage of the car. Didn't look in the best of shape at all, and an interview with a reporter on the scene really did show that it happened on a relatively straight bit of road which is amazing... Found it here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nichosnz 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 I just 2 minutes ago saw a One News update on TV, stating Possum is still alive, but now completely off life support. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotalF1 Jens 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 I just heard the news that Possum has just a while ago passed away, unable to hold on without life support. A very sad day for rallying Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nichosnz 0 Report post Posted April 29, 2003 Yes it was approximatly 1:00am local time. (9 hours before this post). Peter "Possum" Borne 1956-2003 R.I.P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daz 0 Report post Posted April 30, 2003 Very sad news to hear. May he rest in peace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
