Ayrton Senna - 19 years

[MJK 24]

Remember that afternoon and evening vividly. RIP.

[Composite Guru]

Same here. I've been working in F1 now for 14 years and have seen the evolution of all the safety crash structures on the cars. Amazing to see how far they have come. Shame they were never on the car before he died as he probably would of lived.

[Ahonen]

Senna's dead?!

[CocoUK]

Having some fun... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt66vq69UCM

[Rude-boy]

So long ago, yet seems like only yesterday I was stood a 'torre's at Prescott when the first text came through to say Senna had had a big one, only a day after seeing Roland, who I loosely knew from his ETCC days, die.

Going to Imola for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Apparently I'll be at Tamburello.

[24lemons]

Rude-boy said:

So long ago, yet seems like only yesterday I was stood a 'torre's at Prescott when the first text came through to say Senna had had a big one, only a day after seeing Roland, who I loosely knew from his ETCC days, die.

Going to Imola for the first time in a couple of weeks.

Apparently I'll be at Tamburello.

I'm sure you'll see when you get there but a short walk from the TV camera post at Tamburello, there are dozens of tributes pinned, painted and left behind the barrier. I went to the '04 Grand Prix and after the race I walked the track with thousands of others yet when stood in that spot reading the tributes, the silence was deafening.

[Rude-boy]

There are quite a few there still for certain, the chap who did the reccy a week or so back sent me a picture of the flag there and you can see some of the other things about - would have posted but 4mg and nothing to resize with on this PC.

[vonuber]

Roland Ratzenberger - 19 years.

[theshrew]

vonuber said:

Roland Ratzenberger - 19 years.

Good call

Senna was / is still my hero but i also really liked Ratzenberger to.

[Rude-boy]

vonuber said:

Roland Ratzenberger - 19 years.

I will admit that it has always seemed so very wrong that his death is treated as a side note, often smaller than RB's Friday crash, when the events of that weekend are retold.

[MrBigley]

A quote taken from The Motoring News 5th May 1994:

"So they are both gone: one a baby with stars in his eyes, one a veteran with his own private jet.
So much will be written about the one: the other will trail behind in the star dust of his glory.
Perhaps once a year we should pause to remember the sportsmen we have lost, all of them,
and trust that they went to their futures with their dreams intact and that they may be remembered
with love and affection"

[kazste]

Did an impromptu tour of the factory just a few weeks after this terrible weekend, could tell how hard the Williams team had been hit and the high regard they held for a driver who often came across as selfish. Sadly i had no time for Ayrton and thought that whilst he was a skillful driver was not someone i wished to support. All this changed after speaking to the team and hearing how they felt towards him both in life and in death, the thing i remember the most is one of the engineers telling my parents that if he were still here he would of took me off on his own to show me the factory and we would not of been seen for hours.
Ever since then he has been a hero of mine.

Completely agree that we should not forget Roland, and also the injured parties in the start/finish area who may still be feeling the effects.

[viggyp]

And almost 31 years to the day of the passing of my favourite driver, Gille Villeneuve.

[davepoth]

I think it's probably a good time to remember that, in spite of all the moaning, the FIA have done a bloody good job with safety since 1994. No driver deaths in 19 years, and no deaths at all in ten (there was a marshall at Monza who was hit by a tyre in 2000) is quite incredible given the possibilities for injury.