Bertrand Fabi, Canadian Driver, Dies of Injuries After Crash in Test Run

Bertrand Fabi, the Quebec racing driver who was on a fast track to a Formula One career, died Saturday from injuries sustained in a high-speed crash the day before. He was 25.

A spokesman at Royal West Sussex Hospital said Fabi’s parents decided--after consulting with doctors--to cut off the life-support equipment that was keeping their son alive.

They had flown in earlier in the day from their home in Rock Forest, Quebec, in the Eastern Townships, only to discover Fabi in intensive care following a three-hour operation.

“Bertrand is no more,” said Fabi’s manager, Raymond David. “He has left us forever.”

The champion of last year’s European and British Formula 2000 circuits had sustained injuries to his legs, abdomen and head, the hospital said. A neurologist told attending physicians that his deteriorating condition was irreversible.

Fabi cracked up his Formula 3 car--part of the Dick Bennett racing team--during the second day of private test runs on the nearby Goodwood track in southern England.

Fabi was inspired in his career by another Quebec racing star, Gilles Villeneuve, who died in a 1983 crash, and he was keen to join the high-powered Formula One circuit.