Roland Ratzenberger
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Nor particularly darker than some (Monza 1961 springs to mind) - but the events occurred in an age when deaths were far less frequent, so they had a major shock effect.
Arguably darkest for Drivers ...we've lost multiple drivers before, a World Champion before ...but never in the same weekend, even back in the 'killer years' that would've been pretty badEric Mc said:
Spa 1960?
Two drivers killed (Stacey and Bristow). Two drivers seriously injured (Moss and Taylor).
Monza 1961 - fifteen spectators and one driver killed. That's pretty bleak.
I did say 'drivers gp'Two drivers killed (Stacey and Bristow). Two drivers seriously injured (Moss and Taylor).
Monza 1961 - fifteen spectators and one driver killed. That's pretty bleak.
& with all due respect to Stacey & Bristow ...they weren't WDC's let alone 3x WDC's
Imagine back then if we lost Stewart or Lauda, plus another driver ...even then that would've been pretty dark
don't let the subsequent 'canonisation' of Senna diminish how big 1994 was/is
I was referring to this comment - "Probably the darkest GP ever".
It's just not. 16 dead at one GP including the uncrowned World Champion (Von Trips) counts as pretty damn "dark" in my view of things. And if Von Trips had finished the race third or higher, which was pretty much certain, he would have been champion - so there was an added poignacy to what happened.
I am not diminishing the events of 21 years ago. But it's wrong to put them at some sort of "deified level" above other even more tragic weekends in motor sport.
It's just not. 16 dead at one GP including the uncrowned World Champion (Von Trips) counts as pretty damn "dark" in my view of things. And if Von Trips had finished the race third or higher, which was pretty much certain, he would have been champion - so there was an added poignacy to what happened.
I am not diminishing the events of 21 years ago. But it's wrong to put them at some sort of "deified level" above other even more tragic weekends in motor sport.
That's the thing. People tend to best remember things that happened in their own lifetime - which is pretty much what you would expect. I'm not quite old enough to remember the Von Trips tragedy (I was only 3 years old at the time) but it was still fairly fresh in the mind of motor sport fans when I started reading about motor racing from about the age of 7 or 8 (1965/66). So it was still mentioned a lot in books and magazine articles of that time.
Also, the 1966 film "Grand Prix" has a number of accidents in it which were partly based on the real dangers of motor sport of that era. There is no doubt in my mind that the death of the two boys at the Belgian GP (killed by Sarti's Ferrari) and the death of Sarti himself (at Monza - in a Ferrari) are all obviously linked in a kind of way to the Von Trips incident.
Also, the 1966 film "Grand Prix" has a number of accidents in it which were partly based on the real dangers of motor sport of that era. There is no doubt in my mind that the death of the two boys at the Belgian GP (killed by Sarti's Ferrari) and the death of Sarti himself (at Monza - in a Ferrari) are all obviously linked in a kind of way to the Von Trips incident.
Blimey, where does the time go. I remember watching that race weekend so clearly and how it felt.
After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
Blimey, where does the time go. I remember watching that race weekend so clearly and how it felt.
After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
DS240 said:
Blimey, where does the time go. I remember watching that race weekend so clearly and how it felt.
After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
I had watched every GP that had been broadcast live or else been at the race right up until that race. Like you, the death and the Barrichello incident made me nervous. So instead of staying in to watch it I took my wife and children, with a friend's kid, out for the day, much to my wife's surprise. I kept the radio off. After Ratzenbergers crash and Barrichellos, I had an awful feeling about the race, even stating to friends I felt there was something else big coming. And horribly it became a reality.
It was a huge shock for a modern generation of race fans.
Thankfully their deaths have been marked by ever improving safety measures. As we saw last year, you can't remove tradegy or freak accidents but fortunately deaths are rare.
There have been many dark races in all forms of motor racing (1955 Le Mans), they are all terrible and not deserving of a ranking system. 1 death is too many whether that is a driver or spectator.
On the way back from a lovely day at Arundel castle and an afternoon picnic in the grounds I drove home, only to witness a fatal accident, with me giving external cardiac massage to a corpse until the ambulance helio came.
I got home, bathed, and then put the tape recording on to take my mind of the day, only to find that it had not recorded. I went next door to borrow his recording, and he always recorded them, and put it in my machine, only to find that it too had not recorded. I waited until the highlights came on. As soon as I saw the start, without Fleetwood Mac, I knew something terrible had happened, and I guessed it was Senna.
An odd series of coincidences.
I've never seen the race, never seen the crash.
There were suggestions before the season started that safety measures should have been improved. Those in charge, it seems, knew better.
I have the broadcast of the GP on tape.
The tape has not seen the light of day since 1 May 1994.
It never will.
The weekend was truly dreadful. Rubens accident on Friday, Roland's death on Saturday. The start line accident on Sunday.
And then that final fateful lap.......
I have always believed that race should have been red-flagged after the first lap accident with the cars being parked before they passed the wreckage.
It wasn't so we have to accept that.
However i can't help but wonder what might have happened had the race been stopped.
Sadly we will never know.
RIP Rowland.
The tape has not seen the light of day since 1 May 1994.
It never will.
The weekend was truly dreadful. Rubens accident on Friday, Roland's death on Saturday. The start line accident on Sunday.
And then that final fateful lap.......
I have always believed that race should have been red-flagged after the first lap accident with the cars being parked before they passed the wreckage.
It wasn't so we have to accept that.
However i can't help but wonder what might have happened had the race been stopped.
Sadly we will never know.
RIP Rowland.
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