Brock was competing on the second day of the Targa West Rally when his Daytona Coupe hit a tree on a country road near the small community of Gidgegannup, about 40 kilometres east of Perth.
Brock, 61, was killed and his co-driver Mick Hone was injured. Hone was later taken to Swan Districts Hospital where he was reported to be in a stable condition. The Confederation of Australian Motorsport said the crash happened at about midday local time. No other cars are believed to have been involved. The road had been closed to traffic and spectators and road rules had been suspended for the race.
WA police spokesman Graham Clifford said the Major Crash Unit from Perth was at the scene and was investigating the accident. "We believe that a vehicle is approaching a sweeping bend and for whatever reason lost control, left the road and collided with a tree," he said. He said it was unclear how fast the car was travelling when it crashed into the tree. "At the time it was a speed section, so it would have been travelling fairly quickly at that location," he said.
It was the first time Brock had competed in the rally. Event organisers will hold a meeting tonight to decide whether the race will continue.
Prime Minister John Howard said Peter would be remembered as a legend. "I was shocked and saddened to hear of Peter Brock's death," Mr Howard said.'Peter Perfect'
Known as 'Peter Perfect' and the 'King of the Mountain', Brock won the Bathurst 1000 nine times in the 1970s and 80s.
In 1969 the Holden Dealer Team gave Brock his first break to drive at the Bathurst 1000 - he placed third.
He became the team's lead driver and won his first Bathurst 1000 in 1972, going on to win the 1979 race by a record six laps.
In 1980 he became the first driver to win the trifecta of Bathurst, Sandown and the Australian Touring Car title in the same year.
Brock's Bathurst reign was marked by a long-running rivalry with Ford driver Allan Moffat, and the pair were so intensely competitive that they never flew on the same airline together.
In 1997, Brock retired from full-time V8 Supercars racing and launched the Peter Brock Foundation, which provides support to a wide range of community programs. But returned to Bathurst to win the 24-hour race in 2003.
26 February, 1945 - 8 September, 2006
Taken from here and here
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