Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari mechanic who was at the centre of the spying scandal that rocked Formula One in 2007, has died aged 56 in a road traffic accident in Kent, south-east England.
A statement from Kent Police posted on the Autosport website said Stepney's VW caddy van had stopped on the shoulder of the M20 London-bound carriageway at Ashford.
When the van tried to re-enter the traffic it collided with a semi-trailer.
Stepney, who'd worked closely with multiple world champion Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, effectively becoming the German's personal engineer, was sentenced in Italy to 20 months in prison after being found guilty of sabotage, industrial espionage and sporting fraud.
He'd leaked nearly 800 pages of confidential Ferrari information from the Italian giants to British-based Formula One rivals McLaren ahead of the 2007 season.
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Stepney did not serve the sentence, but never worked in Formula 1 again.
Stepney had enjoyed a lengthy career in Formula One that had encompassed spells with the Shadow, Lotus, Benetton and Ferrari teams.
After his exit from Formula One, the British-born Stepney worked most recently in sportscars, joining the JRM team in Daventry, central England, in 2010.
He helped JRM win the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship and a year later guided the team into the World Endurance Championship, where they finished third overall in the LMP1 category and also claimed sixth place at the Le Mans 24 hours race.
In a statement, JRM owner James Rumsey paid tribute to Stepney by saying: "Nigel was an intense and fierce competitor and always strived for excellence in our racing.
"We certainly could not have achieved our level of success without his leadership and experience.
"Today, the motorsport world has lost one of its greatest characters and competitors. He will be sorely missed and we send our sincere condolences to his family and the many friends he leaves behind."
