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A 15-year-old rally driver and his co-driver are dead after their car left the road and plunged into a river at a rallysprint event at Paparoa in the north of New Zealand.
Police identified the victims of Sunday's crash as 15-year-old driver Brooklyn Horan and his 35-year-old co-driver Tyson Jemmett.
A police crash investigator said the car had slid off a gravel road and into a river swollen by rain.
"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of these two competitors and all involved with the Arcadia Road Rallysprint," the president of national governing body MotorSport New Zealand, Wayne Christie said in a statement.
"The whole motorsport community will be understandably shocked and upset by this terrible tragedy.
"We will be offering support to all those involved in the coming days."
While New Zealanders cannot obtain a driver's licence until they are 16, younger drivers are able to compete in motorsport events on closed roads under certain conditions.
"The event took place on Arcadia Road in Paparoa which was closed to the public for the duration of the event under the authority of the local Road Controlling Authority," MotorSport New Zealand said in its statement.
"It is too early in the investigation to comment on what the main contributing factors to the crash were, however, it does not seem as though the road was in a detrimental or unsafe condition."
MotorSport New Zealand said it offered junior competition licences to competitors aged 12 to 15.
"There are heightened requirements that these junior drivers must meet in order to gain their competition license as well as restrictions placed on the types of events and vehicles they are permitted to compete in," it wrote.
MotorSport New Zealand also pointed out that leading race drivers Scott Dixon, Liam Lawson and rally driver Haydon Patton all competed before their 16th birthdays.
In an extended statement on its website, MotorSport New Zealand said it would undertake a "full and thorough investigation, working with event organisers and volunteer officials".
The organisation would also work with investigating agencies such as NZ Police and WorkSafe.
MotorSport New Zealand said police and emergency services were called to the scene at about 2pm local time on Sunday but "tragically the competitors had died before their arrival".
AP/ABC
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