Detectives at the scene on Ballarat-Maryborough Road, north of Talbot, said roads were being pelted with heavy rain at the time of the 8.15am collision with a white Ford Ranger ute.

The ute driver - a 75-year-old Footscray man - was flown to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition, while a 31-year-old passenger in the white LDV van was taken by road to Grampians Health Ballarat.

Police said it was unknown why the Footscray man was driving through the area, but he was heading north at the time - while the van was making deliveries from a Maryborough supermarket to a Talbot cafe.

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The two vehicles ended up 200 metres north of the Pollocks Road intersection, with a large amount of debris spanning 50m of the road.

A large canopy was used to cover the carnage - including the driver's body - as heavy rain fell for several hours and police waited for Major Collision Investigation Unit personnel from Melbourne.

The Ballarat-Maryborough Road was closed for much of the day, with traffic being diverted down Ballarat Street into Talbot - and later down Champions Road.

The impact was an 'off-set' head-on crash - meaning the driver's side of one vehicle collided with the driver's-side of the other.

Detective Acting Sergeant Tony Gentile said it was a tragic outcome for a country community.

"The impact on small communities - especially country towns like this - is enormous because everyone knows somebody," he said.

"The ripple effect is devastating to the whole community. We just ask drivers to be aware of their surroundings in this sort of weather and just be mindful of the road conditions and to slow down."

The stretch of road was in a 100km/h zone with a slight slope and bend.

Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks of Goldfields Highway Patrol also urged motorists to take it easy in wet conditions.

"We still don't know the exact causes, but conditions have been really wet and slippery," he said. "We don't want another accident like this."

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