Ayrton Senna

[Mutley]

I was at Silverstone watching the Imola race on the Sunday lunchtime with a few other marshals and when we saw the incident at Tamburello, to a one we all asked for the TV to be turned off, it was politely refused, we just knew - so left. Gives me the shivers to even think about it now.

It was a horrible weekend, Roland and Ayrton, one at the start of his F1 career the other at his peak. I always feel Roland's passing is overshadowed, but that is the unfirtunate way if things, at least Ayrton would remember him with the Austrian flag for the race end, when I heard this I realised Senna was more than just a driving machine.

Let us just remember the skill that Ayrton, Dale, Giles, Clarke etc have shown and the entertainment they have provided us all.

[ferg]

Eric Mc said:

And many, many more.

Alan Stacey, Chris Bristow

June '60, Belgian Grand Prix, Spa

[Eric Mc]

The Nostalgia Forum of Atlas F1 haa a constant thread running on fatalities in motor racing called "The Ultiamte Price". The list is shockingly long.

[ferg]

The only two that give me a 'John Lennon' moment were Senna and Elio De Angelis.... mind you I haven't a clue where I was when Lennon died, now Bon Scott that's a different matter.

[Eric Mc]

It's all to do with your age as to who you remember. I remember when I heard that the following drivers had died

Jim Clark
Pedro Rodriguez
Joachim Bonnier
Graham Hill
Peter Revson
Roger Williamson
Tom Pryce
Jo Siffert
Carlos Pace
Dale Ernhardt
Joel Gartner
Kenny Irwan
Michele Alboretto
Manfred Winklehock
Jo Schlessor
Gilles Villeneuve
Rolf Stommelen
Mark Donohue
Patrick Depailler
Ayrton Senna
Elio Fe Angelis
Greg Moore
Gonzalo Rodriguez

[HiRich]

Seeing your list reminded me how drivers seemed to die in pairs (certainly as I have seen it from the mid seventies):
- Was it Pace and Pryce in 77?
- Paletti and Villeneuve
- Gonzo and Greg
It got to the point where, when I heard of one, I just knew another would follow.

[Eric Mc]

Yes, Pace and Pryce were killed in 1977. Pryce in that awful collision with a track marshall and Pace in a light aircraft accident.

[zetec]

It was only last week when I found out just HOW Senna was killed. It must have been a scene of utter horror. No wonder no marshalls approached the car, they must have known.

Just a reminder to those who say he died in the car. There is an unwritten rule in motorsport; drivers never die at the track.

>> Edited by zetec on Saturday 1st May 21:02

[Eric Mc]

Zetec - what you heard may be at odds with what Professor Sid Watkins says.

[zetec]

Eric Mc said:

Zetec - what you heard may be at odds with what Professor Sid Watkins says.

I read it on the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/motorsport_death_of_ayrton_senna0_how_the_crash_happened/html/9.stm

I would be interested to know what Sid Watkins has said though.

[Eric Mc]

I've mentioned it a few times on here and it was obtained from Sid Watkins two (excellent) books. He believes, and he should know, he is a world renowned neurosurgeon and racing accident expert, that the fatal blow was from the tyre itself, not the snapped suspension arm. His instant assessment on the spot (he was on the scene within minutes of the accident) was that Senna had suffered a massive blunt trauma to the skull and that he was technically brain dead within seconds - even if he still showed a pulse.

The blood seen after Senna was removed was, in fact, from the trackside tracheotomy performed on Senna to keep his airways open. In fact, a similar procedure was carried out on Hakkinen at Adelaide the following year - it looks messy but is fairly routine and works.

[zetec]

Thank you Eric.