German restaurant tycoon Klaus Rader killed as rally car plunges down Mallorca ravine

Prominent German entrepreneur Klaus Rader, co-founder of the international restaurant chains L’Osteria and Vapiano, has been killed after his rally car plunged down a ravine during an exclusive motorsport event in Mallorca.

The tragedy occurred on Friday on the MA-10 mountain road near Mortitx, between Lluc and Pollença, during the sixth edition of the 550 Rally Challenge Mallorca. The 63-year-old businessman died instantly when his vehicle veered off the road and crashed into the gorge.

His co-driver, 39-year-old Austrian national Christina Ettel, survived the accident but suffered severe spinal injuries. Emergency responders, including firefighters, Civil Guard officers, paramedics, and a rescue helicopter, were deployed to the scene to extract the victims from the remote terrain.

"We can confirm an accident took place during the 550 Rally Challenge Mallorca sporting event at kilometre 10 of the MA-10 road," a Guardia Civil spokesperson confirmed. "A participating vehicle plunged down a ravine near Mortitx. The car driver has died and the co-pilot has suffered spinal injuries."

The 550 Rally Challenge Mallorca is an elite multi-day motorsport event covering 350 miles of Majorca's winding mountain roads, popular among international drivers and British motorsport enthusiasts. British driver Seb Perez won the inaugural event in 2021 alongside co-pilot Gary McElhinney.

Organisers immediately cancelled the remainder of the event, which had begun on Thursday and was scheduled to run through Saturday.

"In light of the tragic news, the organisers have decided to definitively cancel all remaining timed stages, bringing the competition to a close," race officials stated. "This is a painful decision, yet firm and irrevocable, made out of the deepest respect. No result or sporting objective can take precedence over what truly matters."

Rader founded L’Osteria in Nuremberg in 1999, expanding the Italian restaurant brand to over 200 locations across Europe, alongside his co-founding role in the Vapiano chain.

The Mallorca crash marks the second fatal accident in Spanish rally motorsport in recent weeks. On 27 September, 20-year-old co-driver Soraya Barreiro Rodríguez died when her vehicle caught fire after crashing during the Villa de Llanes Rally in Asturias.