A Brazilian newspaper "Jornal dos Sports", issue of 17 September 1953, published a brief article reporting the death of a Franco-Brazilian racing ace named Roumani (without a given name), in a car race held in Rochefort-sur-Mer, near La Rochelle, France. Roumani's car overturned, killing the driver instantly.
No further information is available, but it is plausible that the victim of the incident was Michel Roumani, the Parisian driver who participated in several Grand Prix races before and after World War II, primarily driving Bugatti cars.
It is more challenging to identify the specific race in question; one hypothesis is that the incident actually occurred during a practice session for the Rallye d'Automne, which usually took place in La Rochelle area in September, or in a support race for that event. Michel Roumani had participated in at least one edition of the Rallye d'Automne, in 1937.
Or, it was a race held on a horse track. At the time, Michel Roumani along with other international race car drivers living in France, including Marquis de Portago, Edward Nelson (yes, the Guidizzolo victims), Alejandro Matranga, the Australian Bob Murphy and Baron Strechdorf, was amongst the founders of the Midget Racing-Cars series, intending to introduce midget racing in France.
Any help in identifying the deceased driver? in confirming he was Michel Roumani, based on his date of death?
