Bettega was unfortunately killed at the 1985 Tour de Corse aged 32; he lost control of his Lancia and crashed into a tree which simply ruptured into the driver's seat and killed him instantly. His co-driver Maurizio Perissinot survived the crash uninjured. This put safety pressure on Group B cars. It got worse a year later at the same event when both Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto were killed in a fireball accident at the same event, causing a ban for Group B altogether. Cresto co-drove Bettega at two rallies in 1984.