Roland Ratzenberger
Discussion
F1 had become complacent by 1994, there had been some big accidents in the years running up to that but drivers had miraculously walked away. It took a weekend like Imola and the death of a very high profile driver to snap the sport out of it, one wonders if the same levels of improvement would have taken place had Roland been the only driver killed that weekend, sadly I doubt it.
I feel much better watching F1 now knowing everything within reason is being done to keep drivers safe and only a freak accident would result in a fatality. The fact that Grosjean got out of that awful crash last year with only minor injuries is astonishing. Of course we can never do too much as a sport but looking back at old footage/photos it's scary just how exposed drivers were and how their heads pinballed around during/after a big impact. I hope we never have a weekend like Imola '94 ever again.
I feel much better watching F1 now knowing everything within reason is being done to keep drivers safe and only a freak accident would result in a fatality. The fact that Grosjean got out of that awful crash last year with only minor injuries is astonishing. Of course we can never do too much as a sport but looking back at old footage/photos it's scary just how exposed drivers were and how their heads pinballed around during/after a big impact. I hope we never have a weekend like Imola '94 ever again.
I agree entirely - nearly . It is possible to do too much - I don't want to see a Bugatti T35 or an ERA with a safety cage , and I loathe so many of the Tilke circuits with huge runoffs . Even - or especially perhaps - Silverstone has been ruined for the spectator, who is now rarely in the same post code as the cars on track.
coppice said:
I agree entirely - nearly . It is possible to do too much - I don't want to see a Bugatti T35 or an ERA with a safety cage , and I loathe so many of the Tilke circuits with huge runoffs . Even - or especially perhaps - Silverstone has been ruined for the spectator, who is now rarely in the same post code as the cars on track.
Tilke isn't purely to blame for the runoffs, and he has designed some good tracks - COTA, Mexico and Istanbul leap to mind.Istanbul is regarded as a modern classic as I understand it.
As someone said above, the Simtek was a good looking car, I read something from one of the designers (Nick Wirth maybe?) that said it was probably the last F1 car to be designed/drawn entirely on paper, mostly on the account of the team not having the budget to use CAD in any significant way.
As someone said above, the Simtek was a good looking car, I read something from one of the designers (Nick Wirth maybe?) that said it was probably the last F1 car to be designed/drawn entirely on paper, mostly on the account of the team not having the budget to use CAD in any significant way.
KR158 said:
Me too, I remember so much detail of that weekend, such an incredibly Sunny, Hot & beautiful Spring day. Mowing the Lawn, came in for a Drink, pulled up Ceefax & was just stunned by what I read. I'd been following Simtek since I fIrst saw a Picture in the long defunct "F1 News" Magazine, such a pretty Car from a plucky little Team. Roland seemed like a good Guy, achieved his dream to race in F1. That's how I choose to remember him. 
I had to wait to find out about Senna, we flew to Corfu later that evening and in those days you had to wait a day or so before you could get a UK newspaper.Actually , I disagree . It's become almost compulsory to say that RR shouldn't be overshadowed by Senna's death but what has happened is that Roland is actually now more commemorated than many other drivers who died in an F1 car -or elsewhere. Drivers like Helmut Koinigg , Ricardo Paletti, Elio De Angelis , Greg Moore,Justin Wilson and Dan Wheldon are now near forgotten.
I stress that it's right to celebrate RR , he was a lovely guy by all accounts
I stress that it's right to celebrate RR , he was a lovely guy by all accounts
coppice said:
Actually , I disagree . It's become almost compulsory to say that RR shouldn't be overshadowed by Senna's death but what has happened is that Roland is actually now more commemorated than many other drivers who died in an F1 car -or elsewhere. Drivers like Helmut Koinigg , Ricardo Paletti, Elio De Angelis , Greg Moore,Justin Wilson and Dan Wheldon are now near forgotten.
I stress that it's right to celebrate RR , he was a lovely guy by all accounts
I agree with this. RR is much more well known nowadays as a result of that awful weekend. I stress that it's right to celebrate RR , he was a lovely guy by all accounts
30 years ago, wow time passes so fast. I was a massive F1 fan at the time, I was 21 years old on my first lads holiday on the Costa Del Sol.
I vividly remember it, we’d gone to an English bar for a few pints and I pestered the bar owner to put the live qualifying coverage on Eurosport. As we all know the full horror was captured as it happened. As someone who’d been watching F1 since the early eighties I wasn’t quite prepared for what I saw. Just brutal.
The next day I flew home from Malaga and also vividly remember calling my dad from a pay phone (remember them) to tell him I was at the airport and probably get a race update. His first words: ‘Jim, Senna has had a really bad one’.
That whole flight home I didn’t know what to think. Surely it couldn’t be that bad. Maybe dad had overreacted.
As soon as I got to the car I turned on 5 live for updates. They got worse as time progressed. By the time I got off the motorway, the announcement was made. A very grim weekend that.
I vividly remember it, we’d gone to an English bar for a few pints and I pestered the bar owner to put the live qualifying coverage on Eurosport. As we all know the full horror was captured as it happened. As someone who’d been watching F1 since the early eighties I wasn’t quite prepared for what I saw. Just brutal.
The next day I flew home from Malaga and also vividly remember calling my dad from a pay phone (remember them) to tell him I was at the airport and probably get a race update. His first words: ‘Jim, Senna has had a really bad one’.
That whole flight home I didn’t know what to think. Surely it couldn’t be that bad. Maybe dad had overreacted.
As soon as I got to the car I turned on 5 live for updates. They got worse as time progressed. By the time I got off the motorway, the announcement was made. A very grim weekend that.
I was 6. Refused to do any schoolwork for a day after that weekend. Teacher got me to write about what had happened and I read it out in school assembly later that week. Was given an award that's still on mum's fridge.
Regardless of what happened the day after, this was a tragedy. A talented driver who scraped together enough sponsorship to make it to F1 and managed 1 start before being killed in a crash.
Regardless of what happened the day after, this was a tragedy. A talented driver who scraped together enough sponsorship to make it to F1 and managed 1 start before being killed in a crash.
kambites said:
Probably true, but he's also the third most recent driver to die as a result of injuries sustained racing in F1 so amongst those who know anything about F1 I think his name would have been pretty well remembered anyway.
True - but I regard F1 as only a part of a much bigger motorsport scene which embraces many disciplines. F1 is fine but with only 20 drivers , some of whom are fixtures , it has become a pretty stagnant pool . I realise however that to many fans F1 and motorsport are synonymous. Was a dreadful weekend.
I was at my parents in Shropshire and saw both the qualifying and the race up there. It felt obvious Senna wasn’t going to survive, and I remember Murray struggling to speak. Hill had some balls to continue at the restart.
Drove home to Banbury with my fingers crossed (something I still do today on the first lap of every GP) and heard the news on the way. I sat in my car crying outside the Simtek factory for a little while…
Ugh.
I was at my parents in Shropshire and saw both the qualifying and the race up there. It felt obvious Senna wasn’t going to survive, and I remember Murray struggling to speak. Hill had some balls to continue at the restart.
Drove home to Banbury with my fingers crossed (something I still do today on the first lap of every GP) and heard the news on the way. I sat in my car crying outside the Simtek factory for a little while…
Ugh.
Muzzer79 said:
belleair302 said:
The weekend should have been cancelled on the Friday in my opinion.
Without wanting to labour this......what for?Roland perished on the Saturday and Senna on the Sunday.
In hindsight, it was obviously awful but I can’t see how anyone would have known what was coming to enable a race cancellation.
I had another recollection from that grim weekend today, from an article I read at the time which I think was penned by Adam Cooper in the weeks following Imola.
Essentially IIRC it was an interview with J.J Lehto.
J.J had recently been signed off fit following breaking his neck testing the Benetton at Silverstone. Imola was his first weekend back racing, and he’d travelled down to Italy as a passenger in Roland’s newly acquired Porsche.
J.J reminiscent about how buoyant and fizzing Roland was on that journey, in his new car and having achieved his dream to get into F1.
If you remember J.J stalled on the grid on Race day (perhaps his mind was elsewhere), and was hit at high speed from behind by Pedro Lamy - which brought out the safety car.
Aye, it was a very tragic weekend.
Essentially IIRC it was an interview with J.J Lehto.
J.J had recently been signed off fit following breaking his neck testing the Benetton at Silverstone. Imola was his first weekend back racing, and he’d travelled down to Italy as a passenger in Roland’s newly acquired Porsche.
J.J reminiscent about how buoyant and fizzing Roland was on that journey, in his new car and having achieved his dream to get into F1.
If you remember J.J stalled on the grid on Race day (perhaps his mind was elsewhere), and was hit at high speed from behind by Pedro Lamy - which brought out the safety car.
Aye, it was a very tragic weekend.
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