Roland Ratzenberger
Discussion
I recall at the time, Senna was hit quite hard by Ratzenberger's death. Doubly sad that he should then lose his own life a day later.
Anyone recall TV AM arranging a race between Ratzenberger and Roland Rat? Obvious good PR and a bit of fun for Ratzenberger, although he wasn't a natural in front of the camera. Certainly a very nice guy though and happy to have some fun. A real loss to F1 and motorsport as a whole.
Anyone recall TV AM arranging a race between Ratzenberger and Roland Rat? Obvious good PR and a bit of fun for Ratzenberger, although he wasn't a natural in front of the camera. Certainly a very nice guy though and happy to have some fun. A real loss to F1 and motorsport as a whole.
Senna was terribly upset, first by Barrichello's accident on Friday, his young countryman got the chicane wrong, pitched the Jordan on to a high kerb, which launched it in the air and it flew in to the barrier/fence on the other side of the chicane. He was knocked unconscious but it was a lucky escape really.
When Ratzenberger's accident happened Ayrton was in the garage, out of the car, watching on TV. There is video footage of it and you can see his reaction, not pleasant.
He then jumped in a circuit car and got out to see the accident scene for himself. When he got back to the paddock they wouldn't let him in the medical centre, so he went round the back and jumped over the fence. Practically in tears he ran in to Sid Watkins - a very close friend who gently told Ayrton that Roland had died.
Senna was beside himself and very upset. Sid told him he didn't think he should race on the Sunday and that life offers so many things, he suggested that they both quit there and then and go fishing. Senna simply said he couldn't do that. I guess the need to race was still too strong.
I've read that later that night, Senna rang family & girlfriend (who was at his villa in Portugal) still very upset, crying.
I think it was after Donnelly's crash in 1990, Senna approached Sid and said he was concerned for his fellow racer and asked him how to look after am injured driver, so Sid taught him CPR, how to keep an airway clear and basic procedure for keeping them still/straight to prevent spinal injury. I forget who had the accident, but someone had an off and Senna was first on scene, Sid arrived to find a very concerned Ayrton cradling the driver's head to keep it straight, as he'd been taught. Such a weird dichotomy for a man who had run Prost off the road a few years earlier.
Senna and Watkins were good friends - they spent time at each others houses/with the families. It was apparently one of those few times that Ayrton actually completely relaxed. It must have been very hard for Sid to attend Senna's accident and literally see him pass away before his eyes, even as a man of medicine.
Although the GPDA was disbanded in 1982 Senna had become more involved in safety - demanding things at the track be fixed/changed etc. Berger encouraged him to speak out, as Gerhard knew that he would carry more weight.
Ironically the two of them had done a track inspection at Imola some time before the race there, one item of concern was the Tamburello corner and the wall on the outside. Berger had a big crash there some years previously in the Ferrari, the car hit the wall and caught fire - Berger was lucky to escape without serious injury or worse.
When they looked at the track Ayrton walked over to the wall and looked beyond to find it couldn't be moved back, because of the river directly behind it. He said to Gerhard "there's nothing them can do, they can't change it".
After Ratzenberger's death the drivers had a meeting on the Sunday morning and agreed to re-form the GPDA to have an "official" voice for their concerns (which had been growing for some time). Senna was elected chairman. After his death just hours later Schumacher took on the role until 2005.
When Ratzenberger's accident happened Ayrton was in the garage, out of the car, watching on TV. There is video footage of it and you can see his reaction, not pleasant.
He then jumped in a circuit car and got out to see the accident scene for himself. When he got back to the paddock they wouldn't let him in the medical centre, so he went round the back and jumped over the fence. Practically in tears he ran in to Sid Watkins - a very close friend who gently told Ayrton that Roland had died.
Senna was beside himself and very upset. Sid told him he didn't think he should race on the Sunday and that life offers so many things, he suggested that they both quit there and then and go fishing. Senna simply said he couldn't do that. I guess the need to race was still too strong.
I've read that later that night, Senna rang family & girlfriend (who was at his villa in Portugal) still very upset, crying.
I think it was after Donnelly's crash in 1990, Senna approached Sid and said he was concerned for his fellow racer and asked him how to look after am injured driver, so Sid taught him CPR, how to keep an airway clear and basic procedure for keeping them still/straight to prevent spinal injury. I forget who had the accident, but someone had an off and Senna was first on scene, Sid arrived to find a very concerned Ayrton cradling the driver's head to keep it straight, as he'd been taught. Such a weird dichotomy for a man who had run Prost off the road a few years earlier.
Senna and Watkins were good friends - they spent time at each others houses/with the families. It was apparently one of those few times that Ayrton actually completely relaxed. It must have been very hard for Sid to attend Senna's accident and literally see him pass away before his eyes, even as a man of medicine.
Although the GPDA was disbanded in 1982 Senna had become more involved in safety - demanding things at the track be fixed/changed etc. Berger encouraged him to speak out, as Gerhard knew that he would carry more weight.
Ironically the two of them had done a track inspection at Imola some time before the race there, one item of concern was the Tamburello corner and the wall on the outside. Berger had a big crash there some years previously in the Ferrari, the car hit the wall and caught fire - Berger was lucky to escape without serious injury or worse.
When they looked at the track Ayrton walked over to the wall and looked beyond to find it couldn't be moved back, because of the river directly behind it. He said to Gerhard "there's nothing them can do, they can't change it".
After Ratzenberger's death the drivers had a meeting on the Sunday morning and agreed to re-form the GPDA to have an "official" voice for their concerns (which had been growing for some time). Senna was elected chairman. After his death just hours later Schumacher took on the role until 2005.
marshall100 said:
There's a brief bit in the Senna film where Roland talks about the Simtek. I'd never seen it before and it's quite chilling.
I remember that bit: He's saying, or implying, that he's having to do things with the car that were really scary.I often wondered if the front-end of the '94 Simtek was a fundamentally compromised design: I remember early concepts of the car had a single spar or cantelever front wishbone (no lower wishbones), which IIRC contained the dampers and track rods. The uprights were hung from the ends of these single upper wishbones. I can't find any reference to that concept online, but I'm pretty sure it was an extreme solution to cleaning up airflow around the front wheels. I think the regulations were changed during the development of the car which forced the team to completely redesign the front end at a fairly late stage.
Crafty_ said:
Amazingly HANS devices weren't legislated until 2003, some time after other series had started using them.
I remember being surprised watching an old IMSA sportscar race on YT with HANS name checked. HANS was extremely uncomfortable to wear. Dale Earnhardt famously dubbed it was: "that darn noose" yet it is said that it would have saved his life had HANS been mandatory in NASCAR. Rubens Barrichello complained how uncomfortable they were but it was only a few years later till that was sorted.
Crafty_ said:
Ratzenberger had a little off on the previous lap, the downforce took the wing off, he had no chance of controlling it. If it was one of todays cars he'd be a bit bashed around but would probably be fine thanks to HANS and far more protection from the cockpit sides - of course his accident was one of the reasons that cockpit sides were built up. Amazingly HANS devices weren't legislated until 2003, some time after other series had started using them.
It was a direct hit to a concrete wall at 180mph. I'm not sure even in todays car that he'd be fine.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff