From the Vault: the tragic death of F1 driver Roland Ratzenberger in 1994 | Sport | The Guardian From the Vault From the Vault: the tragic death of F1 driver Roland Ratzenberger in 1994 The 33-year-old was killed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix on 30 April 1994, the day before Ayrton Senna died Roland Ratzenberger preparing for his Formula One debut on 17 April 1994 in Japan. He finished 11th in what would be his only Grand Prix start. Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis Thursday 1 May 2014 10.13 EDT First published on Thursday 1 May 2014 10.13 EDT Share on Messenger Close On the morning of the San Marino Grand Prix on 1 May 1994, Ayrton Senna placed an Austrian flag in his racing car. The great Brazilian champion had planned to wave the flag as he passed the finishing line in victory.

Senna wanted to share the moment of triumph with his fellow driver, Roland Ratzenberger, the young Austrian who died on the Imola track the day before. Senna never made it to the chequered flag. Like Ratzenberger, a Formula One novice who crashed and died while trying to qualify for only his second Grand Prix, Senna's life was cut short on that fateful weekend in the spring of 1994. Yesterday we published a collection of tributes to Senna , and today we want to remember Ratzenberger by republishing the three articles below: the report filed from Imola on the day of his death, an interview with Simtek founder Nick Wirth from July 1994, and Frank Keating's observations from the San Marino Grand Prix of 1995. Motor racing driver Roland Ratzenberger dies at 200mph Maurice Hamilton reported for the Observer on the death of Roland Ratzenberger, who died on 30 April 1994 during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola track.

Grand Prix racing is dangerous enough without the swirling emotion which gathered strength here yesterday afternoon following the news that Roland Ratzenberger had succumbed to injuries he received when he crashed during practice for today's San Marino Grand Prix. The first fatal accident for 12 years involving a grand prix driver initially brought with it a stunned reaction, intensified by the spectacular incident on Friday when the Brazilian Rubens Barrichello emerged with comparatively minor injuries after losing control of his Jordan and crashing at more than 120mph. Both incidents heightened an awareness of the sport's inherent dangers, masked in recent years by massive strides in technology and on-board safety, but now exposed by the violence of Ratzenberger 's collision as his Simtek struck a concrete retaining wall at close to 200mph. Once the initial shock had subsided in the paddock, the search for a scapegoat embraced a range of issues with the same misinformed reasoning which frequently accompanies the death of a boxer in the ring. The claim that the cars are too fast and too dangerous had a simplistic and familiar ring to it, but beneath such an emotional response lay genuine concern raised by the apparent cause of Ratzenberger 's crash.

The 31-year-old Austrian, attempting to qualify for only his second grand prix, was accelerating hard in sixth gear when part of the car – believed to be a nose wing – became detached. Whether or not he had partly dislodged the wing against a kerb earlier in the lap may never be known, but the effect of its absence was an indictment of the latest technology, which relies heavily on downforce – the effect of air passing over the car and its aerodynamic appendages. Without one or both of the nose wings, a car becomes virtually undrivable and refuses to respond as the driver turns the steering wheel. Whatever the precise cause of Ratzenberger 's problem, the Simtek failed to take a right-hand curve which, under normal circumstances, would not present a problem, the car being forced on to the track by between two and three tons of aerodynamic load. Ratzenberger was helpless as the car slammed into the wall, the wreckage travelling 300 yards to Tosa corner. It is believed that, despite desperate attempts by the medical team to revive Ratzenberger, the initial impact may have broken his neck.

The tragedy has deeply affected the Simtek team, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and embarking on their first season of Formula One racing. Although a novice, Ratzenberger was extremely popular with all who knew him, particularly among the drivers who had progressed through the ranks with the Austrian when he lived a hand-to-mouth existence while racing in Britain. Even though his condition was not known at the time, Williams and Benetton chose not to continue their battle for grid positions, the mark of respect leaving Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher to share the front row, with Damon Hill having claimed fourth fastest time shortly before the accident. The decision by Ferrari to resume practice in a bid to get on the front row was considered insensitive under the circumstances, but Gerhard Berger later gave an eloquent defence of his actions as he discussed the fate of his fellow countryman. "I was sitting in my car, watching the pictures on the portable TV screen," said Berger. "I could see how bad it was. I knew how critical the situation looked. For the first time, I found myself shaking after an accident. In our job you have to be prepared to see situations like this. But because the driver was Austrian and a personal friend, it was worse.

"You shouldn't differentiate between drivers like that, but this does affect you in a different way. I felt sick. I got out of the car and went to the motorhome, where I was still shaking. You ask yourself whether you want to drive or not. The question is about racing it is not related to this afternoon and it would not make any difference to Roland. "But, yesterday, when I saw Rubens Barrichello's accident, it made me realise how close we are to life and death. So you ask these questions. Then you say: 'Yes, I am going to race on Sunday.' So you go out and try to concentrate on the job. It was difficult it was very hard." There was an ironic footnote to Berger's carefully chosen words. Five years ago, he was exceptionally lucky to survive a fiery accident at a spot not far from where Ratzenberger ran into trouble. Berger's Ferrari had ploughed straight into the wall in the opening laps of the race. It was later discovered that a nose wing had come off the car, leaving Berger as exposed as his more unfortunate protege yesterday afternoon.

For some time now the FIA, the sport's governing body, and leading teams such as Williams have talked about the need to reduce the huge amount of downforce generated by cars in their current guise. If Ratzenberger 's accident was caused by a broken nose wing, then the terrible consequences may accelerate an overdue investigation into such an overdue move. In a statement issued several hours later, the Simtek team said: "He was a true all-rounder whose brave driving style and delightful character will be sadly missed by so many around the world." Pinterest Fighting back from the pits of tragedy Four months after Ratzenberger's death, Maurice Hamilton interviewed Simtek founder and car designer Nick Wirth, who spoke of the agony he felt about losing his friend at Imola. Nick Wirth celebrated his 28th birthday in Brazil last March. This was his first grand prix as a team owner and, contrary to popular expectation, the gangling, bespectacled founder of Simtek Research had not fallen flat on his smiling face. One of the Simtek-Fords driven by David Brabham had actually qualified for the opening race of the season.

Wirth, his small team and their main sponsors, MTV and Russell Athletic, were in a splendid mood. But they were under no illusions. The task before them would be made even more difficult by inexperience and a budget that amounted to 15% of the financial backing enjoyed by the likes of Williams and Benetton. Simtek neither expected nor received any favours – their arrival had been studiously ignored by the rest of the pit lane. Wirth could cope with that. What no one envisaged, however, was the vicious and unrelenting tragedy that, four weeks later, would overwhelm the team. It began during final qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. Roland Ratzenberger, a Formula One novice, was killed outright when his Simtek veered off the track and smashed into a concrete wall at 180mph. It was the first fatality at a grand prix meeting for 12 years. Wirth had watched the catastrophe swiftly unfold on a television monitor. "I'll never, ever forget it," he says. "To see Roland lying on the grass receiving a heart massage ... your body behaves in very strange ways at times like that. You suddenly find that you can no longer function as a normal person.

You literally lose control your legs turn to jelly and you feel you want to throw up, not because of the detail of what you've seen, but because of the emotions surging through you. "When they finally brought the car back on a truck, I just didn't want to look at it. I had to force myself. There was a massive hole in the side of the monocoque [chassis] where the left-front wheel had been forced inwards. In Senna's accident the following day, the wheel came up towards the driver's head with ours, it stayed low, which is what the FIA want it to do. Our car is one of the strongest in that area but, unfortunately, the impact with the wall was so severe that the wheel punched its way through the monocoque and into Roland." The strength of all Formula One cars has since been improved in that area. The actual cause of the accident was a failure of the nose wing structure, probably weakened by Ratzenberger clouting a kerb on a previous lap. If nothing else, this was a graphic indictment of the limitation placed on the number of laps completed by each driver during qualifying.

Had Ratzenberger not been under pressure to make the most of each lap rather than waste two of them by making an unplanned call at the pits, he would probably have chosen to stop and have the car checked over. Wirth's agony was compounded by the fact that he is unique among team owners in that he also designs the car. "I didn't even know that the wing had fallen off and yet I immediately felt guilty. I don't think people realise the responsibility associated with designing a racing car until this sort of thing happens. I somehow managed to sleep that night, but when Senna died the next day, even though it was not directly related to me, I cried and cried. I was an emotional basket case. "That's when I began to question it all. You ask if it is worth going through all of this emotion. But you have to pick up the pieces and carry on. The sponsors were absolutely 100% behind us – fantastic support.

And most touching of all was that Roland's personal sponsor, Barbara Behlau [founder of Barbara MC, a Monaco-based sports management agency] was so impressed by the way we had coped with the tragedy that she wanted to put more money into the team for the rest of the season. That helped us greatly, both practically and emotionally." Wirth's biggest problem has been deciding precisely what to do with the relatively small amount of money he has available. While Wirth would not divulge the extent of his budget, as a rule of thumb a top team would expect to spend a minimum of £20m, including the luxury of a deal with a major manufacturer whereby engines are supplied either free or for a nominal sum. The less well-off teams have to struggle along on as little as pounds £7m. '"Do you spend it," he asks, "on engines, or wind-tunnel work, more mechanics, better equipment or more track testing? I guess we are going to spend another $3m to $4m this year. Now if we had another million on top, we could achieve a great deal.

It sounds a lot – it is a lot – but when you consider that you need around £25,000 for each engine rebuild, it soon goes. "A day's testing costs something like £25,000, but the amount you learn is unbelievable. That million could give us perhaps 10 days of testing, plus enough to build the bits from what you learn, and that would probably put us a long way up the grid. I want to qualify and run ahead of some of the established teams such as Lotus. We have the knowledge and the drive to do that. It's just this tragic sequence of events which has set us back." The catalogue of horror continued through until the end of May. During practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, Ratzenberger 's replacement, Andrea Montermini, lost control of his Simtek and crashed headlong into a wall. Wirth's anguish was aggravated by the increasingly naive comments being directed his way. "There was one particular individual in the media who suggested that our car shouldn't have fallen apart like that. Where did he think the energy was going to go?

I was trying to keep calm because, for about an hour after his accident, I thought Andrea had died as well and the same emotions that I had been through with Roland came back even stronger than before. Then to have this jerk make these suggestions really tested me." The Simtek, along with every car on the grid today, had undergone a mandatory crash test which does not come close to the 133mph impact suffered by Montermini in Spain. The fact that he survived with minor injuries to his feet was the greatest tribute to the integrity of the Simtek. On the other side of the ledger, however, yet another written-off car brought the bill for replacements alone to £600,000. "It's bloody hard," says Wirth, reflecting on a lifetime of emotion crammed into four months. "The only thing that makes it easier is that you knew it was going to be hard. People expect you to go tits up.

You have to show them that you are fighting on." Formula One drivers observe a minute of silence to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of fellow dirvers Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger moments before the start of the F1 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola on 30 April 1995. Photograph: Jeannot Lapeyre/AFP/Getty Images One year on from the nightmare On the first anniversary of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, Frank Keating visited the Imola track to report on the mourning within the Formula One community. With harrowing, unrepentant exactitude it is a year to the weekend that the garish and tearaway business of motor racing was grotesquely freeze-framed into an eerie Pompeian stillness the moment its champion of cold-eyed invincibility and single-minded grandeur Ayrton Senna died in a 190mph crash in the name of sport. For a year motor racing has remained stunned, all involved unable to erase from their own heads that silence only interrupted by the dread flutter flutter flutter of the ambulance helicopter. Yesterday friends were still telling of the moment with blank stares as they remembered it.

Senna's car crashed into the concrete wall here at Imola at Sunday lunchtime last May Day. This week the still chastened sport has returned to Imola. Tomorrow, if it passes without serious mishap, will represent the end of official mourning and the discordant hurdy-gurdy of the fairground can be turned up again to full volume and the old merry tunes on the cash register. The two successive top-lick curves on the course – where Senna and the day before, in a grim prophetic preface, Roland Ratzenberger died – have been significantly slowed by lower-gear chicanes and gravel traps. Well separated now from the new tarmac track, the fencing above the low white wall that Senna's car hit (it was a steel suspension arm from the front axle that fatally speared the driver's right temple) is now a shrine garlanded with wailing Latin graffiti, flowers and favours, many in the green and yellow of his country. The barrier at which Ratzenberger died is only seconds from there at screaming full pelt, or a few minutes' stroll. The younger driver's parents have been given permission to erect a small memorial plaque at the spot.

The cataclysmic weekend a year ago was presaged by a first horrific smash at practice out of which debris Rubens Barrichello mercifully and absurdly walked unwounded. Yesterday the young man talked confidently about Imola and racing again tomorrow. He knows he is lucky to be alive but shrugs. "The crash became part of my past within days," he says. "Coming back is difficult only because of Ayrton. In racing I am professional and my feelings cannot be human ones." The show goes on. And at last tomorrow Nigel Mansell steps back on to the scary rollercoaster after missing two seasons in the United States as well as, ludicrously, the first two South American races of this new Formula One season because the new McLaren they built for him had too small a seat for the wide-haunched veteran West Midlander. Mansell was courted back, apparently, for £7m by sponsors desperate to give the sport the sense of character and oomph suddenly perceived to be lacking. Probably lacking 12 months to the day.

While he has been away and garlanded with greenbacks Mansell has lost none of his chippily wary Brummie directness and, even, grudgingly sounding charm. More than ever Mansell is like Ambridge's self-made Jack Woolley ('but Caroline, do you actually think a jacuzzi is really Grey Gables?') and yesterday he described his small seat as "just a design cock-up, really". The alterations to his carbon-fibre chassis have been only 25mm by 20mm but he says he is now far less cramped in his cockpit – "although don't expect too much I haven't yet had time to make the car anything like driver-friendly". Once he strangles it into friendship, the sport will wait to see how he gets on with his new team-mate, the apparently brilliant young Finn Mika Hakkinen.

Mansell certainly adds the colourful headlines which are part of the exercise and, if towards the end of the season Hakkinen is surging ahead, then here we go again: "Oh Caroline, I honestly suspect they're giving him more preferential treatment well, Peggy thinks so anyway." Even the Italians are not bad at attempting a reasonable Bremnerish impersonation of our Nige's vowels. They have much affection for him here in this motor racing area after his years as il leone, also giving it his best roar when he drove for Ferrari. At last that marque, the old prancing horse from nearby Maranello, looks as if it might have a serious chance tomorrow for a first home victory in 12 years. Suddenly, they say, speed and reliability have come together. Certainly the possibility is already clogging up the roads all around – and a famous home victory would end the long and lamenting year of mourning at, and for, lovely Imola. Roland Ratzenberger in 1994.

Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis Read other stories From the Vault and share your memories below Imola 20: Roland Ratzenberger Imola 20: Roland Ratzenberger 7,748 views By: Steven Cole Smith , News manager 30/04/2014 05:11 Motorsport.com's editorial team delivers a three part tribute to the two men lost on these days 20 years ago. Rubens Barrichello suffered a scary crash, while Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna would perish in on track accidents. If motorsports is a ladder, and if Formula One is the top rung, Roland Ratzenberger was hanging on by his fingernails. With only enough funding for five races, he had already missed the first, unable to qualify the new, heavy, underpowered Simtek car. He managed to make the second race, barely, and mostly because he was more familiar with the circuit than the other drivers. He finished 11th, last of the cars that were still running. This third race, though, the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy, was critical.

One car out of the 27 there would go home, and it would likely be him, or Bertrand Gachot in his lumbering Pacific. So he was taking all the car could give him, and more. During the last qualifying session, he ran off the track briefly, and when he came back on, he steered his car back and forth, determining that the suspension and tires weren’t damaged. There was time for one more flying lap before he’d pit to check the car over. If he couldn’t hang onto that top rung now, he knew he would never get another chance. In a couple of months he would be 34. That was the age F1 drivers should be thinking about retiring, not getting their rookie stripes – after all, Ayrton Senna, polesitter for tomorrow’s race, was only a few months older than Ratzenberger, and already had 41 wins. Sometimes Ratzenberger would tell prospective employers he was born in 1962, instead of 1960, until he realized that by now, two years wouldn’t make much difference. At full speed, he closed in on a mild right-hand kink called Villeneuve Corner.

He did not know that the off-track shunt had damaged his front wing. It came apart at the worst time. With no downforce, the car steered straight towards the wall. Ratzenberger was in trouble. He was traveling more than 310 km/h. He tried to steer, tried to brake, but nothing would change the speed and trajectory of his Simtek. It smashed into the wall and skirted it for a couple hundred feet before coming to rest exactly in the middle of the track, Ratzenberger’s head slowly lolling from side to side like a rag doll’s. The first safety workers to arrive looked into the car and backed away, milling about like we’ve seen in so many tragedies. You can read their minds: Oh, god. Oh, Jesus. This is bad. This is bad. What do we do? Medical workers removed Ratzenberger from the car and placed him on the stretcher, and they took turns doing chest compressions. It was at Bologna’s Maggiore hospital, not far from the track, where he was pronounced dead.

That’s the custom: Drivers are typically taken to the nearest hospital where family and friends gather, still hopeful, before their hopes are dashed in a proper, controlled setting. Roland Ratzenberger, Simtek Photo by: Photo 4 Roland Ratzenberger died when he hit the wall from multiple injuries, including the basilar skull fracture that became a household term when it happened seven years later to Dale Earnhardt at Daytona International Speedway. Would a HANS device have saved Ratzenberger? Maybe, maybe not. But the results could not have been any worse. Ronald Ratzenberger likely never knew that a previous lap would have been fast enough for him to qualify 26th, and race the next day. The newspapers, of course, hit the streets Sunday morning with Ratzenberger’s photo on the front page. After all, no F1 driver had been killed during a Grand Prix weekend for 12 years. What a chilling weekend at Imola: Friday, Rubens Barrichello, just 21, had launched his Jordan off a curb like a fighter jet leaving an aircraft carrier, catapulting into the top of the catch fence and flipping over.

A safety worker carelessly pushed the car back onto its wheels, and Barrichello’s helmeted head took one more lick on the sidepod as a result. He was unconscious but survived. Then came journeyman Ratzenberger’s death on Saturday – likely Senna would win his 42nd race on Sunday, but there would be no celebrating: He would unfurl the Austrian flag he carried with him inside the cockpit and wave it in victory lane to honor a fellow driver he barely knew, the first driver to die during Senna’s decade-long F1 career. Of course, Senna never got that chance. This weekend, the motorsports world will remember Senna on the 20th anniversary of his death. Will they also remember Roland Ratzenberger? He deserves it. Ratzenberger was born in Salzburg, Austria on July 4, 1960. There was never a question in his mind about his career path: He would race. His family was not wealthy, though, so Ratzenberger had to work to earn his first ride in a kart at age 16. It was a template followed for the rest of his life: He worked for everything.

Three years later, he worked to pay for his first ride in a Formula Ford 1600. #22 SARD Toyota 93C: Roland Ratzenberger, Mauro Martini, Naoki Nagasaka Photo by: Jean-Philippe Legrand Four years later, in 1983, he had shown enough talent and willingness to learn to begin to attract attention. He raced in the German Formula Ford championship in 1984, paying for his car by working as a mechanic for the series. In 1985, he won 11 of the 16 Formula Ford races he entered. Doubters were becoming believers. In England in 1986, he won the Formula Ford Festival, long a respected steppingstone. But good rides were scarce. He bounced from Formula 3 to European Touring Cars, back to Formula 3, to Formula 3000. He made it to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989, and that led to rides in Japan in 1990 and 1991, winning races in the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship.

He first reached for the top rung of the ladder in 1991, when a Japanese sponsor planned to finance a run in Eddie Jordan’s new F1 tea, but the deal fell through and it was back to Japan, this time in Formula 3000. In 1993, though, he was back at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Toyota, finishing fifth overall and first in class. Then came 1994, and what he knew was his last, best chance. Barbara Behlau was a smart, enterprising businesswoman who lived in Monaco, working as a sports agent. She saw promise in Ratzenberger, and arranged enough financing through several sponsors, mostly MTV Europe, to pay for five races. The team was Simtek – short for Simulation Technology – and one of the founders was Nick Wirth, who began his racing career as an aero designer for March. Five years after the British engineering company was founded in 1989, Wirth decided to try F1 for himself, designing the Simtek S941.

Originally the car featured active suspension, but F1 banned the technology shortly before the start of the season, forcing Wirth back to the drawing board with a too-tight deadline. The resulting car was heavy, had a manual transmission that shifted slower than the competition’s semiautomatics, and was powered by a customer Ford HB V-8 engine from Cosworth, which was down on power to the front-runners. Taking a part-ownership role in Simtek was Sir Jack Brabham, the three-time F1 champion who, not surprisingly, installed his youngest son David Brabham in the main car’s seat. Several drivers were up for the second car, but deals fell through, and suddenly Roland Ratzenberger had his chance. Though Behlau couldn’t find the money for a full season, Ratzenberger – as he had all his life – figured if he worked hard enough, drove well enough, the money would come from somewhere. It had to. Bernie Ecclestone discussing with professor Sid Watkins Photo by: Brousseau Photo At the first race of the season, Brabham qualified last, but Ratzenberger couldn’t make the field in the trouble-plagued car.

Both cars qualified for the next race, and both had problems and Brabham’s car broke, but Ratzenberger soldiered on to 11th, the last of the cars still running at the end. Finally, he was a Formula One driver. Next, the San Marino Grand Prix. Branham was in the show, barely, and Ratzenberger knew than missing two of his first three F1 races was not the sort of performance that would attract additional sponsors. It was all on the line for the last qualifying lap. And then it was over. Many tributes suggested that Ratzenberger died doing what he loved. Perhaps. Brabham went on to race the next day: “I am confident that the greatest tribute we can pay to Roland is to race today,” Brabham said in a statement, “hence my decision.” His car’s steering broke soon after Senna was killed. He did not finish. For the next race, at Behlau’s hometown of Monaco, Brabham raced again, with “For Roland” painted on the airbox. Out of respect for Ratzenberger, Barbara Behlau continued to sponsor the team through 1995, even though MTV Europe backed away.

By the end of the year, after a series of pay-to-play drivers performed with little success – even Brabham had moved on to race BMWs in the British Touring Car Championship – Simtek went bankrupt, and its assets sold at auction. Wirth, now 48, went on to design F1 cars like the Virgin VR-1, and American Le Mans Series entries like the Acura LMP car. Barbara Behlau was 62 when she died in 2006. David Brabham, 48, still races sports cars. Qualifying action from above Photo by: XPB Images Roland Ratzenberger is buried in a well-tended grave in a cemetery in Salzburg not far from the airport. The vast majority of drivers and crew and F1 executives attended Senna’s funeral instead of Ratzenberger’s. One who did not was FIA President Max Mosley, who, along with Wirth, was a founder of Simtek. Years later, Mosley said he wentto Ratzenberger’s funeral “because everyone went to Senna’s.

I thought it was important that somebody went to his.” Often Ratzenberger is called the “forgotten man,” since his death was immediately and comprehensively overshadowed by Ayrton Senna’s death. But that isn’t true: Had Senna not died that same weekend, few would likely remember Roland Ratzenberger at all. And that Sunday morning after his death, and before the race, a shaken Senna and other drivers publicly called for greater safety measures. That led to the formation of the Advisory Expert Group, chaired by Dr. Sid Watkins. And one of the changes the Group pushed through was the use of the HANS device – which may have saved Roland Ratzenberger’s life. Be part of something big Your email address Roland Ratzenberger - Badger GP Badger GP tweet On May 5th 1994 many representatives of Formula One and the world motor racing community attended the funeral in São Paulo of one of the greatest drivers ever to have graced the sport, three time World Champion Ayrton Senna.

Two important faces were not there, however: Bernie Ecclestone, president of FOM and friend of Senna, had been asked not to attend by the family, and Max Mosley, the then president of the FIA, who had chosen not to go. He chose instead to attend the funeral two days later in Salzburg of Senna’s fellow racing driver, Roland Ratzenberger, who was also killed that same weekend at Imola. When asked later about this, Mosley explained, ‘Roland had been forgotten. So I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna’s. I thought it was important that somebody went to his.’ Roland Ratzenberger – July 1960 – April 1994 – credit: Cahier Archive Ratzenberger was born in Salzburg, Austria on the 4th July 1960, just three and a half months after Senna, but it had taken him a lot longer to get his break into Formula One. He was a late starter in motorsport, only beginning his career in German Formula Ford in 1983 at the age of twenty three.

Conscious of his age and fearing that it would go against him with team bosses and sponsors, he often claimed to have been born in 1962, taking two years off his age. Over the next two seasons he built a reputation as a solid workmanlike driver in Formula Ford championships. He finished second in the German competition in 1985 and in the same year he took first place in both the Austrian and the Central European championships. After these successes he decided to take the chance of entering the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch that year. He finished on the podium, having taken second place and in 1986 he went one place better and won the event. This was enough to help him make the move up into British Formula 3. He spent two seasons in F3, racing first for West Surrey Racing, then the following season for Madgwick Motorsport. Both years he finished twelfth, but at the same time he also showed his versatility as a racing driver by taking part in the inaugural season of the World Touring Car Championship in 1987, driving a BMW M3 for the Schnitzer race team.

He managed two second place finished for the team that year, but unfortunately for Ratzenberger’s career, the WTCC did not continue the following season and did not restart until 2005. He raced briefly the following year in the British Touring Car Championship towards the end of the season for the Demon Tweeks team, but after the disappointments of 1988, he changed formula once again and the following year moved to the British Formula 3000 competition, where he took one win and finished the season third overall. More importantly, 1989 was the first year in which he took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Porsche 962 with Maurizio Sandro Sala and Walter Lechner for Brun Motorsport.

They had to retire in the third hour of that race, but Ratzenberger continued to take part at Le Mans for the rest of his short life, racing again for Brun in 1991 and for the Japanese SARD team in 1990, 1992 and 1993 when he gained his best finish in the race, finishing in fifth place driving a Toyota 93 C-V with Mauro Martini and Naoki Nagasaka. In the early nineties Ratzenberger moved his career to Japan. He competed in the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship for SARD, winning two races between 1990 and 1991. At the same time he was also taking part in the Japanese Touring Car Championship where he finished seventh in both seasons. In 1992 he returned to racing in single seaters, taking part in Japanese Formula 3000, later to become Formula Nippon. In one race at the Fuji circuit he came to the assistance of fellow driver Anthony Reid, who had crashed with such an impact that his crash helmet had been ripped off of his head.

After observing the response of the stewards to this incident, Ratzenberger collaborated with a local journalist to write an article condemning the safety standards at the circuit. He finished his first season in Japanese F3000 in seventh place, one above his former SARD team mate, Eddie Irvine. The following year Ratzenberger finished in eleventh place while Irvine went onto finish the season as runner up and began his Formula One career driving for Jordan in the last two races of the 1993 season. The following year Ratzenberger also made the move to Formula One, joining the new Simtek race team alongside David Brabham, the son of Australian triple world champion Jack Brabham. His debut at Interlagos in Brazil was disappointing as he failed to qualify, having been delayed by mechanical problems during practice and then a rain storm during qualifying prevented him from setting a representative time. In the following race he was more fortunate as it was the Pacific Grand Prix, held at the Aida circuit in Japan, where his experience racing in that country meant he was the only driver to have raced that circuit before.

He qualified in twenty sixth place, but finished the race in eleventh, albeit five laps behind the winner, Michael Schumacher driving for Benetton in what would prove to be the first of his world championship winning years. That race, however, turned out to be the only Formula One race that Ratzenberger would actually take part in. Roland Ratzenberger – San Mario GP weekend – credit: Cahier Archive The next race was the San Marino Grand Prix, although the race actually took place at the Imola circuit across the border from the small republic of San Marino, in neighbouring Italy. Things did not go well from the start – in Friday qualifying Rubens Barrichello, driving for Jordan, hit a kerb and was launched into the air, hitting the top of a tyre barrier and rolling several times before coming to rest upside down. Barrichello was knocked unconscious and after treatment in nearby Bologna he was unable to take part in the rest of the race weekend. In the Saturday qualifying things turned much, much worse. In the last twenty minutes of final qualifying, Ratzenberger ran over a kerb at the Acque Minerali chicane which is believed to have damaged his front wing.

Rather than return to the pits he carried on into another fast lap. Travelling at nearly 200 mph approaching the flat out Villeneuve Curva it is thought that he suffered a front wing failure and as a result could not negotiate the curve and crashed almost head on into the concrete barrier wall opposite. He suffered a basal skull fracture in the massive impact and was airlifted to the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, the same one that had treated Barrichello the previous day. Sadly there was nothing that could be done to save him and Roland Ratzenberger died of his injuries the same day. This was Formula One’s first race weekend fatality since Riccardo Paletti at the Canadian Grand Prix in 1982 and the first driver fatality since Elio de Angelis in a testing accident in 1986. Unfortunately it was only to be one day until the next one. Ratzenberger never had the chance to show what he would have been capable of as an F1 driver.

Before his crash he had set a time which would have allowed him to qualify to take part in the race and he may have done enough in his first few races to gain the seat at Simtek on a more permanent basis. The indication from his previous career is that although he is unlikely to have challenged for a world championship he would have been a reliable, if unspectacular driver, however we will never know. What is certain is that after the events of that tragic weekend at Imola, steps were taken to improve the safety of F1 and in the twenty years since then thankfully no drivers have been killed. As the quote from Max Mosley at the start of the article made clear, in the immediate aftermath of the double tragedy, the death of Roland Ratzenberger was all too often overlooked, although not by his team mates as Simtek ran the rest of the season with ‘For Roland’ painted on the cars’ airboxes. His former team mate Eddie Irvine took his place driving for SARD at Le Mans that year, with Ratzenberger’s name still on the side of the car and he helped bring it home in second place.

Now twenty years later, as we remember the events of that weekend at Imola, we must make sure we recall both of the drivers who lost their lives there. Roland and Ayrton, born just months apart and who followed two very different career paths, but whose lives ended just hours apart on the same circuit, we remember you both. SHARE For Roland | Ayrton Senna - A Tribute to Life A password will be e-mailed to you. Roland Ratzenberger July 4th 1960 - April 30th 1994 “I can not allow any accident. Our annual budget is equal to the salary of Gerhard Berger. We have no money to fix cars. “ – Roland Ratzenberger , 1994 Ayrton Senna wanted victory at Imola in 1994, not so much for himself as for the Roland Ratzenberger. In his Williams cockpit they found the Austrian flag that he wanted to raise in Roland’s honor. Unfortunately, a tragic accident forever take him away.Portal ayrton-senna.net honors and devotes one page to Roland Ratzenberger, the talented Racer who lived for its dreams.

On July 4th 1960, the United States celebrated Independence Day and had just added the Hawaiian star to the national flag, confirming the presence of a 50th state; while thousands of miles away in the city of Salzburg Austria, Roland Ratzenberger was born. Ratzenberger was a relatively late starter in motor racing and was only getting his stride in his early-mid twenties when he himself in German Formula Ford in 1983. Fearing that his age could potentially get in his way, Ratzenberger would often inform teams that he was two years younger than he actually was, to make him more attractive to owners and sponsors alike and it was a tactic that worked fairly often. With forays into Austrian and Central European Formula Ford championships, he built himself a reputation as a likeable and hard working; if not the most formidable challenger in a given field. With a couple of years racing behind him, Ratzenberger decided this was the best opportunity to enter the famous Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

The Austrian only needed two attempts to take a win at the race – claiming second at his first attempt and then winning in 1986 and it was enough to see Ratzenberger move up to British Formula 3. Ratzenberger would become a popular figure during his brief time in Formula 3, as the Austrian gained minor fame when his children’s TV namesake Roland Rat invited the driver onto TV-am for a guest appearance. It was not enough to push the Austrian on and two years in the Formula 3 Championship only brought rewards of a pair of 12th places overall. Roland would then spend the next few years, moving between British Formula 3000, the World Touring Car Championships and the British Touring Car Championships. As his thirtieth birthday approach, Ratzenberger’s Formula 1 dream was all but extinct. When the 1990’s started, it seemed as if Ratzenberger had nicely settled into a career of sportscar racing. Five attempts at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race had resulted in a best finish of fifth overall for SARD Racing in their Toyota 93 C-V, while also tackling the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship for the same squad.

His stints in the Far East would see Ratzenberger join Formula Nippon for the 1992-93 seasons, finishing 7th and 11th respectively and picking up a pole position and a victory at Suzuka in the process. However, where some drivers would disappear completely in the motor racing minefield that is Japan, Ratzenberger occasionally “asked” journalists to ensure stories of his eastern exploits would make motorsports news back in Europe – even though he was thousands of miles away, Roland was keeping himself in the European fram. The 33-year-old was signed by Simtek Racing in a five race deal to compete in the 1994 Formula 1 World Championship – against all odds, the Austrian had achieved his dream; however it did not have a good beginning. The Simtek S941 arrived very late, having to be completely reworked once active suspension was banned at the end of the 1993 season, leaving Wirth to produce a fairly basic and overweight car twinned with a Ford engine that was low on power. Come the first race of the season, Ratzenberger failed to qualify.

As the Grand Prix circus ventured to Aida for the second race of the year, Ratzenberger excelled at a circuit he knew well from his Formula Nippon days. The Austrian would line up last on the grid, some 1.8 seconds slower than his teammate David Brabham, but would bring the car home in 11th place, albeit some five laps down on eventual race winner, Michael Schumacher. Then there was Imola… Remembering Roland Ratzenberger MTV Simtek launched in 1993 with Raztenberger brought in as the team’s second driver ahead of the 1994 calendar. He was signed to a five-race contract. In Brazil, Raztenberger failed to qualify owing to a catalogue of technical glitches. But the next race proved the perfect fit for him. The Pacific Grand Prix at Aida in Japan was well-known to Raztenberger from his time spent in Asia. He qualified for the race and finished in 11th, albeit five laps behind the winner, Michael Schumacher. Ratzenberger celebrated by buying a blue Porsche Cabriolet. Impact on Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna was watching Roland crash too.

In the Williams garage, he took off his helmet and began to look closely at the live feed. He was concerned. He turned to his team-mates. “320 (kph)?” he asked. He knew, travelling at that speed, that Raztenberger was in trouble. He watched as medics pulled Ratzenberger from the wreckage. He watched as they attempted to resuscitate him. He watched until he couldn’t watch any more. He knew. He began to cry. The morning of the San Marino Grand Prix, Senna was in a meeting room at Imola. determined to push through safety changes in the wake of Ratzenberger’s fatal accident. When he hopped into his Williams on the starting grid, he brought an Austrian flag with him in the cockpit. He wanted to wave it in memory of his fallen colleague as he crossed the finish line. He lived for his dream He still harboured dreams of making it in Formula 1 and, as news filtered through to Europe about his strong showings, he finally got his chance with a brand-new F1 team.

The 1994 Formula 1 season has gone down in history as one of the most exciting, yet tragic in the history of the sport, but Roland would not live to see it. The rest of the year was filled with brilliant drives, controversies and fantastic developments. Nigel Mansell would make a historic return from Indycar and David Coulthard would emerge from his reserve driver role – both would drive in Senna’s place at various points in the season. At Simtek, money continued to be tight and the heavily damaged chassis’ would only increase the cost and the pressure on the owners of the fledgling squad. Following Montermini’s brief drive for the team, Simtek propped up their second seat with drives from Jean-Marc Gounon, Domenico Schiattarella and the woeful Taki Inoue. By the middle of the 1995 season, Simtek had disappeared from Formula 1. His death shocked the whole Formula 1 community – coming just 24 hours after the intervention of Professor Sid Watkins saved Rubens Barrichello from swallowing his tongue, so saving his life, post accident.

After Roland’s fatal crash, pit lane crews were described as ‘being a white as sheets’ with everyone being very emotional. Williams mechanics were hugging Jordan mechanics, as the F1 world absorbed the first on track driver death for 12 years, the first since Riccardo Paletti at Montreal in 1982. The Simtek team ran the rest of the season with ‘For Roland’ on the air box. Eddie Irvine took his ’94 SARD Le Mans seat and drove with Roland’s name on the car out of respect. By all accounts, Roland was warm, enthusiastic, intelligent and immensely popular; he was more a person than a racing driver and was most definitely not a corporate body that compete in the series today. He had achieved his dream of getting to Formula 1 and was tragically killed before he could fully reap the rewards. Twenty years on, Ayrton Senna will be remembered for the genius he was. His legion of fans will make their pilgrimage to his grave in Sao Paolo and leave mementos, flowers and flags. But there is another grave, in Maxglan. And we shouldn’t forget about it.

sources [formulaspy.com | sidepodcast.com | the42.ie] F1: The Forgotten and Unsung Hero - Roland Ratzenberger F1: The Forgotten and Unsung Hero - Roland Ratzenberger 18 May 2011, 08:58 IST Roland Ratzenberger Whenever the word ‘tragedy‘ is associated with F1, the only thing that fans remember is the death of Ayrton Senna . An extraordinarily talented driver during his heydays, Senna was all set to take the sport by storm when his premature death resulting from an on-track accident crippled all such dreams and brought to an end the life of arguably the greatest driver in F1. Yet, not many know or remember that 24 hours before Senna died, there was also another accident in the 1994 qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix which saw Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger killed. The impact of the collision was so huge that the accident fractured the base of Ratzenberger’s skull, thus sending ripples through the F1 fraternity after the Austrian became the first major casualty in the sport after the death of Ricardo Palleti in 1982.

What was even more saddening was that the race was only Ratzenberger’s third race of his F1 career, a career which blossomed late at the age of 34, thus making his death a story even more tragic than the death of Senna. Born on the 4th of July 1960 in a little known town of Salzburg in Austria,Ratzenberger started his racing career in German Formula Ford in 1983. Although a late starter in moto-racing, he had a fairly successful run in Formula Ford notching up victories in Austrian and Central European Championships. Thereafter he entered the famous Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch where he was the runner-up & winner in his first two attempts. This was enough to push Ratzenberger through to the ranks of British Formula 3. At Formula 3, he had a disappointing run, finishing both times 12th in ’87 & ’88 seasons.

He then shifted his focus to British Formula 3000 in 1989 where he finished 3rd overall on points.While in the UK, Ratzenberger gained popularity due to his name being similar to the TV puppet show “Roland Rat” in which he even made some guest appearances. By 1990 Ratzenberger began to find his feet into the career of motorsport racing once again. During that period he relocated his career interest to Japan where he competed in Japanese Sports Prototype Championship driving Toyota 93 c-v. He then joined Formula Nippon hoping that his exploits on the eastern front would catch the eye of F1 bosses. His efforts finally bore fruit when at the age of 34 ,he was signed by Simtec racing to compete in 1994 F1 season. The very first outing at Interlagos turned into a dissapointing note as Ratzenberger failed to qualify courtesy to mechanical problems. As F1 moved to Aida for second race of the season, Ratzenberger blossomed in conditions with which he had familiarized himself during his days in Japanese Circuit. Being last in the qualifying session, he finished the ventual race at respectable 11th position.

By the time of San Marino Grand Prix, he began to find his touch. The fatal crash that killed Ratzenberger On the fateful day of 30th of April 1994, during the qualifying session,his front wing of Simtec car was damaged as he went off the track.With little time left for the qualifying session to end & being in position of losing the 25th spot,Ratzenberger decided to stay on the track instead of pitting for an inspection.In the very next lap aerodynamic pressure got the better off his already broken front wing, sending the car headlong into the wall at Villeneuve corner at rate of nearly 300km/hr. Ratzenberger’s neck was broken on the impact and he succumbed to his injuries en route to the hospital. The Austrian’s death sent shock-waves through the F1 community and the magnitude of the shock was intensified once Ayrton Senna was killed in the race the next day. A forgotten hero whose death is barely remembered by anyone, Ratzenberger was one of the casualties whose life was the price for making F1 a safe and successful sport.

Roland Ratzenberger: the tragedy Formula 1 forgot, after Senna - Yahoo Sport Roland Ratzenberger: the tragedy Formula 1 forgot, after Senna By Eoin O'Callaghan 30 April 2015 11:24    A steady stream of people visit Sao Paolo’s Morumbi Cemetery every day and pause at one particular gravestone. It’s no different to the others. Sometimes, the collection of mementos, flowers and flags will grow too large and will be gathered up by on-site staff and passed on to family members. It’s a paradox, really. A serene, discreet final resting place for a sporting icon synonymous with showing off. For those that inspired us with their genius before leaving too soon, there’s a special significance attached to the shrine, the place of worship. Usually it becomes a bloated, gawdy, ugly tribute. But, even in death, Ayrton Senna remains unique. In Maxglan, near Salzburg, there is another gravestone. It’s set in charcoal-grey marble and it stands out from the rest. There’s a detailed inscription, complete with a photograph.

The words read “Er lebte fur seinen Traum”. “He lived for his dream”. A miniature racing-car helmet rests on top. It’s a paradox, really. A nondescript athlete, a sporting footnote, buried in a lavish grave. A career spent desperately vying for attention, Roland Ratzenberger finally achieved it in death. Thousands of miles apart, Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger remain united in death. Just as they were 21 years ago. The day before Senna died at Imola, he was preparing for his qualification heat. It had already been a turbulent 24 hours. On the Friday, his compatriot Rubens Barichello was involved in a harrowing crash, his Jordan violently hitting a steep kerb and landing upside down. Knocked unconscious, Barrichello swallowed his tongue but miraculously escaped with just a broken nose as marshals got to the car quickly and tended to him. As Barrichello was brought to the medical centre, Senna appeared to offer his support. View gallery . Roland Ratzenberger really shouldn’t have been at Imola.

Born in Salzburg, he was a late developer in motorsport, only getting a start with German Formula Ford in his early twenties. From there, it was a steady ascent around the European circuit, going nowhere fast. British Formula 3, British Formula 3000, the World Touring Car Championship, the British Touring Car Championship — a litany of humdrum gigs. But, he enjoyed an impressive stint in Asia during the early 90s — a notoriously difficult and peculiar landscape. He tapped into a new fan-base and, instead of disappearing, began to revel in his rebirth. He still harboured dreams of making it in Formula 1 and, as news filtered through to Europe about his strong showings, he finally got his chance with a brand-new F1 team. MTV Simtek launched in 1993 with Raztenberger brought in as the team’s second driver ahead of the 1994 calendar. He was signed to a five-race contract but Simtek’s debut season began badly. Under-staffed and under-prepared, it was a worrying start. In Brazil, Raztenberger failed to qualify owing to a catalogue of technical glitches.

But the next race proved the perfect fit for the Austrian. The Pacific Grand Prix at Aida in Japan was well-known to Raztenberger from his time spent in Asia. He qualified for the race and finished in 11th, albeit five laps behind the winner, Michael Schumacher. Ratzenberger celebrated by buying a blue Porsche Cabriolet. He had made it. Next up was San Marino. View gallery . His father, Rudolf, saw it live on television. His mother, Margit, couldn’t watch. She was too afraid for her son, always. Returning home after a long flight from Mexico, Rudolf chose to watch the qualification from the bedroom of the family house. About to drift off, he heard the Eurosport commentator yell his son’s name. Startled, he jumped to attention. There was Roland’s Simtek, smashed, calmly coming to a stop. Rudolf knew immediately that Roland was dead. Aryton Senna was watching Roland crash too. In the Williams garage, he took off his helmet and began to look closely at the live feed. He was concerned. He turned to his team-mates. “320 (kph)?” he asked.

He knew, travelling at that speed, that Raztenberger was in trouble. He watched as medics pulled Ratzenberger from the wreckage. He watched as they attempted to resuscitate him. He watched until he couldn’t watch any more. He knew. He began to cry. After their son’s death, Rudolf and Margit Ratzenberger travelled to the mortuary in Bologna. They had to identify the body. As they entered the morgue, they saw Roland. But beside him was Ayrton Senna. Rudolf asked if it was all just a stupid dream. His son’s idol now dead alongside him. Weeping, he leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead and whispered, ‘So long, boy’. View gallery . The morning of the San Marino Grand Prix, Senna was in a meeting room at Imola. determined to push through safety changes in the wake of Ratzenberger’s fatal accident. When he hopped into his Williams on the starting grid, he brought an Austrian flag with him in the cockpit. He wanted to wave it in memory of his fallen colleague as he crossed the finish line. Twenty years on, Ayrton Senna will be remembered for the genius he was.

His legion of fans will make their pilgrimage to his grave in Sao Paolo and leave mementos, flowers and flags. But there is another grave, in Maxglan. And we shouldn’t forget about it. This piece was first published on last year’s anniversary, the 20th. Ayrton Senna - Biography - IMDb Ayrton Senna Biography Showing all 39 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (21) | Personal Quotes (6) Overview (5) 5' 9" (1.75 m) Mini Bio (1) Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil to a wealthy family. When he was four years old his father Milton bought him a go-kart, and by age eight Ayrton was regularly competing in karting events. His career progressed quickly, and in 1982 he moved to England to pursue his racing. In 1984 he came to the attention of the whole world by racing in Formula One.

Over the next ten years he won the World Championship three times and engaged in some controversial racing with France's Alain Prost and England's Nigel Mansell. Ayrton Senna was killed on 1 May 1994 in a race at the San Marino Grand Prix when his car, which had been beset with problems the entire season, inexplicably left the track and crashed into the concrete barrier. His was the last death in Formula One due to the major safety reforms that the tragic weekend at Imola had brought about. He was voted by over two hundred of his fellow Formula One drivers as the best driver of all time in a 2010 poll. Senna was also a humanitarian who discreetly donated millions to help those less fortunate in his native country. - IMDb Mini Biography By: AC Spouse (1) Trivia (21) Born at 2:45 p.m. Ayrton Senna was one of the most important pilots of Fórmula 1 of all the times. Formula 1 Champion in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Raced for Toleman (1984), Lotus (1985-1987), McLaren (1988-1993) and Williams (1994). Although in Formula One Grand Prix wins he was behind his chief rival Alain Prost, at the time of his death he had achieved 65 Pole Positions, one short of twice as many as Prost and the other second place holder, Jim Clark, who had 33 each. Michael Schumacher took 12 years to beat Senna's record, recording his 66th pole position, ironically, at the San Marino Grand Prix in 2006. Died in a Bologna hospital from severe head injuries resulting from a crash on Imola's famous Tamburello bend. Many experts were convinced that the cause must have been mechanical failure: Senna could not have lost control of his vehicle for any other reason. An inquiry concluded that the accident was caused by a snapped steering column. As a result, manslaughter charges were brought against six members of Senna's Williams racing team. However, all of them were eventually acquitted, and in 1997 the prosecutor's appeal was rejected.

First win race in Formula One: Portugal (1985) He always had a Brazilian flag hidden in his car in the case he won the race. At the time of his death he had an Austrian flag in his car to commemorate a fellow race car driver Roland Ratzenberger of Austria, who was killed on the same track the day before in a car crash as well. Had his look-alike puppet in the French show Les guignols de l'info (1988). Held the record of most pole positions in Formula One with 65 of them. Since his first in pole position in June 1985 until his tragic death on the 1st of May in 1994, he had earned altogether 65 pole positions. Eventually he was overtaken - more than a decade later - by Michael Schumacher in April 2006, but his record for pole positions remained to be the hardest one to overtake during the time of modern tracks. Younger brother of Viviane Senna and older brother of Leonardo Senna. Son of Neyde Senna and Milton Theodoro Silva. His last girlfriend was Adriane Galisteu .

F1 Racing Magazine voted him the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time in 2004. Remembering Roland Ratzenberger | F1 Paddock Pass Remembering Roland Ratzenberger by F1PP When we think back to that darkest of weekends at Imola some twenty one years ago, we immediately mourn the loss of one of the finest Formula One drivers the world had ever seen. We remember the accident on Lap 7 of Ayrton Senna, understeering off the circuit and crashing heavily into the wall. We recall the sadness we felt, the loss of our hero, the despair of it all. But twenty one years ago today during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix, Roland Ratzenberger lost control of his Simtek, crashed heavily and died. He’s often forgotten by many who reflect on that horrific weekend but today, we pause to remember the practical joker with the huge grin and effervescent personality, who was taken doing something that he loved. Roland came to Formula One late in the game. He was 33 years of age when Nick Wirth and the Simtek Team gave him the chance to live his dream. Before arriving in Formula One, Ratzenberger’s resume was already overflowing with credentials.

Wins at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, challenging the British Formula Three, and commanding drives in the 1987 British Touring Car Championship – where he scored a second place driving a BMW M3. He raced in Formula 3000, finishing third in the championship and then went onto race at Le Mans. The 1990’s began with Roland racing in Japan, a country that adored his cheeky character and his trademark grin. He scored wins in the Japanese Sports Prototype series and even found time to drive in the Japanese Touring Cars. 1992 saw him return to the Formula 3000 category in Japan, and stay there until the end of the 1993 season. 1994 dawned with the fulfillment of a life long dream. A drive in Formula One. Roland and Nick Wirth signed a five race deal, partnering him with Australian driver David Brabham, son of triple world champion Sir Jack Brabham. The team, would be Simtek. A new team on the grid with big vision, but sadly not the budget to match.

Roland would drive for the team for as long as he could fund his drive and he was desperately hoping that he would attract more sponsorship within the five races he could afford. The season didn’t start well for Roland when the ’94 championship commenced at Interlagos in Brazil. Despite his best efforts, he failed to qualify the Simtek on his first outing. He fared better in the second round of the championship when the circus arrived at the Pacific Grand Prix, at Aida in Japan. Roland was lucky to have previous experience at this circuit from his Japanese racing days and managed to qualify for the race – and finish in 11th position. Round three at Imola was another chance for Ratzenberger to show what he could do with the underpowered Simtek. The weekend began in horrific fashion, when Rubens Barrichello speared off the track, became airborne and crashed into the trackside catch fencing. Rubens was extremely lucky to walk away with a few bruises and a slight concussion. Ratzenberger and Brabham performed their normal Friday set up programme and spent the evening chatting with engineers about how they could claim the final two places on the grid, thoughts of Rubens weighing heavily on their minds. Qualifying day.

Roland had so far found it a challenge and was battling to secure the final place on the grid. The lap before his fatal accident, a small mistake saw him run wide, off circuit and damage the front wing of the car. But instead of coming into the pits for a new nosecone – or even an inspection – Roland knew that time was against him and another lap was needed. Roland powered his Simtek into top speed down the main straight, visualising his lap as he went. That final spot on the grid could be his if he could string the lap together like he knew he could. It wasn’t to be. The high speed on the straight, coupled with the extreme downforce that was generated made the damaged front wing flex beyond capabilities. It snapped off and became wedged underneath the car. Roland could do nothing as the Simtek failed to make the Villeneuve corner and he slammed into the opposite wall at some 200 miles an hour. The Simtek exploded in a shower of carbon fibre and car parts and finally came to rest in the middle of the track, Roland’s lifeless body slumped inside of the broken monocoque.

Medical aid was rushed to his assistance and once extricated, he was airlifted to hospital where it was announced that he had succumbed to his injuries. The cause of death was basilar skull fracture. Ratzenberger was the first Formula One racing driver to lose his life at a grand prix weekend since the ’82 season, when Riccardo Paletti was tragically killed at the Canadian Grand Prix. Ratzenberger was also the first driver to die in a Formula One car since Elio de Angelis during testing in 1986. The period of mourning for Roland was short lived as the following day, lightning struck twice. Ayrton Senna da Silva left the track at high speed and died. It was the darkest of dark weekends for the sport. Only four drivers attended the funeral of Ratzenberger. Herbert, Berger, Wendlinger and Frentzen paying their respects to the likeable but little known driver. In total, some 250 people were at the funeral as Roland Ratzenberger was laid to rest in Maxglan, Salzburg, Austria. It’s a little known fact that the death of Roland Ratzenberger has one lasting legacy.

During the drivers’ pre-race briefing, the remaining drivers agreed to reform the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. It was a unanimous decision with Senna, Berger and Schumacher elected to be the first directors. The GPDA – still in existence now – went on to push for advances in car and circuit safety in the wake of the weekend’s events and those that followed in 1994. Furthermore in 2003, the FIA passed into law the use of the HANS device, designed to prevent the type of injury suffered by Ratzenberger that led to his death. Tomorrow, we will think about the loss of Ayrton and what he could have achieved had he still been here. But today, I’m recalling the curly headed Austrian and that fateful day, where his dreams – and his life – were lost forever. Share this:

Question: Late Formula One racing drive Roland Ratzenberger was born in which country?
Answer: Austria