ROME — Italian rally driver Matteo Doretto has died in a crash while testing his car in Poland, according to the European Rally Championship. He was 21.

Doretto was conducting a private test session Wednesday morning for the upcoming Rally Poland “when he lost his life in an accident,” the ERC said in a statement late Wednesday. It added that co-driver Samuele Pellegrino was unhurt.

The Automobile Club of Italy said Doretto hit a tree while testing his Peugeot 208 car in northeastern Poland.

Doretto was the Italian junior champion last year and was in his first season in the ERC. He was fourth in the junior standings.

“With potential in abundance, Matteo was polite, engaging but, above all, modest,” the ERC said.