| From: [email protected] (Reuter/Timothy Collings)
Subject: Grand Prix Driver Ratzenberger Killed
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 94 8:30:04 PDT
IMOLA, Italy (Reuter) - Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger
died Saturday after a high-speed crash during final qualifying
for the San Marino Grand Prix.
His death was the first in Formula One racing since 1982
when Italian Ricardo Paletti was killed at the start of the
Canadian Grand Prix.
Ratzenberger, 31, driving a Simtek, crashed into a trackside
wall after 16 minutes of the session which was halted for 48
minutes.
He died less than an hour later after being air-lifted by
helicopter from the circuit to the Maggiore Hospial in Bologna.
FIA spokesman Martin Whitaker said the grand prix organizers
had received a report from the hospital confirming Ratzenberger
had ``succumbed to his injuries.''
Ratzenberger was attempting to qualify for only his second
grand prix after joining the new Simtek team for their debut
season in Formula One this year.
He crashed at more than 180 mph (290 kph) when it appeared a
piece of the front wing of his car flew off on the fast run from
the Tamburello corner up to the Tosa hairpin.
French driver Jean Alesi, who is recovering from serious
injury after a high-speed crash, was reported to have told
journalists he saw the wing fly off while watching at Tosa.
Deprived of control of the car and downforce, Ratzenberger
was unable to negotiate the Villeneuve curve and plowed head on
into the wall on the outside of the run-off area, his car
slewing along for more than 200 yards before coming to a halt.
The entire left side of the car was ripped away.
Ratzenberger was given heart massage at the trackside before
being taken by ambulance to the circuit medical center and from
there, by air ambulance helicopter, to the hospital.
Ratzenberger's death was the first fatality at a grand prix
meeting since Paletti died in Canada and the first death of a
Formula One driver since Italian Elio de Angelis in testing with
the Brabham team at Le Castellet in France in 1986.
The accident was the second high-speed crash at the Imola
circuit in 24 hours.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was fortunate to escape serious
injury Friday when his Jordan crashed ran off the track into
safety fencing at more than 136 mph (220 kph).
Ironically, he was back at the circuit Saturday and was a
spectator at the time of Ratzenberger's crash.
Ratzenberger was a single man whose career had been centered
on motor racing for the past 11 years.
He lived in Monaco and was a friend of several other F1
drivers, including JJ Lehto and Michael Schumacher.
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| This article is copied without permission from the Motoring News 5/5/94.
Roland Ratzenberger typified the spirit that takes men to the highest
echelon of motorsport.
He was born in Salzburg in 1962 and began to establish his unusual
name in the cut and thrust of Formula Ford 21 years later. By 1985,
he had won the Austrian, German and European Championships, and upon
his arrival in Britain, he already seemed a familiar character thanks
to the screen antics of TV-AM's Roland Rat [a TV puppet]. Indeed, when
I first heard of him, we thought he was a humourist cashing in on the
name. Whenever we pulled his leg about it he would simply laugh and
take it all in good stead. Typically resourceful, Roland actually
cajoled some sponsorship on the strength of the 'link' !
Back in 1987, when he graduated to F3 with Dick Bennetts and West Surrey
Racing, my [David Tremayne] then three year-old son immediately insisted
with a child's innocence, on dubbing him Roland Ratzenberger-and-chips-and-
beans to his face. Roland thought it was hysterical and quickly became a
small boy's hero. He was that sort of man, gentle, always unfailingly
polite, tall, good-looking and with a ready smile. He would always far
rather look for the best in people, offering his opinion in that slow,
sing-song voice of his.
His dedication took him to victory in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival
at Brands Hatch in 1986, and after his two seasons in Formula Three, he
faced the familiar dilemma of what to do next. He opted for Japan, first
in saloon cars but later in Formula 3000 and sportscars. In 1990 he
triumphed in the Fuji 1000kms race, and then he followed with victory
at the Suzuka 1000kms in 1991, with third place in the Daytona 24 Hours
classic a year later.
All the time, however, his sights were set on Formula One. In 1991 he
tested IndyCar champion Michael Andretti's Lola and lapped within a
tenth of a second of the American star. Plans to move into Formula One
with Eddie Jordan's emergent team went awry at the last minute when his
sponsor pulled out. Undeterred, he went back to Japan and continued
his impressive progress in Formula 3000 before suddenly becoming a contender
for the drive this year with Simtek that eventually took him to Imola.
When I [David Tremayne] walked into the Imola paddock on Thursday afternoon
a hand grabbed my arm and I heard a friendly greeting. As we talked about
his GP debut at TI Circuit Aida his eyes sparkled, but he was hard on himself
and said he thought that he should have done better that 11th place. He
would always rather have run that walked. I'm glad now that we had that
final chance to talk.
"Roland had an infectious sense of humour and was a racer who worked for
everything that he achieved in motor racing, right from the time that he
was his own mechanic in Formula Ford," said Johnny Herbert, who like so
many other drivers had formed a strong friendship with him during their
racing days in Japan. Representatives of the Simtek team paid their own
tribute. "With many sacrifices on the way Roland worked his way up to
Formula One. He was a true all-rounder whose brave driving style and
delightful character will be sadly missed throughout the world."
It was impossible not to feel a great affection for an instantly friendly
man who possessed genuine charm and dignity. I never saw him angry, nor
ever heard him bad mouth another driver. Roland Ratzenberger was at the
threshold of achieving his lifelong dream, and was proud to describe his
most memorable experience as his first test in a F1 car, at Imola earlier
this year. As we think of him, and offer condolences to his family, the
shattered Simtek personnel and his many, many, friends, we say farewell
to that rarest of F1 characters: a hard racer who nevertheless had not a
single enemy within the Grand Prix paddock.
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