The earthly life of perhaps the greatest of all F1 legends came to an end on May Day 1994. Ayrton Senna is still strongly present in Imola.
Ayrton Senna’s earthly life ended in Imola on May Day 1994. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
A beautiful green park area in a small Italian village exudes spring tranquility. The children are playing, the young couple sitting on the bench stare into each other’s eyes as only those who have just fallen in love can.
The only thing missing from this is the chirping of little birds. However, a different kind of soundscape is available. Racing car engines roaring loud and high.
Now we are in Imola. A public park in the middle of the speedway offers locals the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the cars circling the speedway without an entry ticket.
Many families take advantage of this. At best, driving adventures can be followed by up to three different generations.
The youngest in the family can only manage to follow the speeding cars for a moment. Instead, the interest is focused on the place next to it, where there is always a loud buzz.
Dad understands. Now is the right time. Together with her child, she walks among the others and lifts the child in her arms. After that, he tells who the large bronze statue represents.
It’s time to tell about Ayrton Senna.
Ayrton Senna’s bronze statue is located at the bend where the Brazilian died on May Day 1994.
Senna died at the 1994 San Marino GP when his Williams went off the track at the high-speed Tamburello corner.
Senna’s death shocked the whole world. The three-time world champion is considered one of the best drivers of all time.
Senna drifted out violently at the Tamburello bend. The statue is located on the right side of the picture. PDO
A commemorative plaque is attached to the fence, which is located opposite the site of Senna’s accident.
The Tamburello bend was changed after Senna’s death. It is no longer driven on gas.
The Tamburello bend is full of various flags and other memorabilia left by fans.
The huge spectrum of flags from different countries tells how people have arrived in Imola from all over the world.
A sight every F1 fan would have loved to see. Senna climbing out of his wrecked Williams.
This painting is one of the greetings left on Senna’s memorial.
– God took his hands off the Formula Ones.
Three-time world champion Niki Lauda put into words the general shock of the formula people after the 1994 San Marino GP. The weekend was pitch black.
The omens were in the air. Already on Friday Rubens Barrichello was badly injured after he was violently driven out.
On Saturday, death returned to the formula pit.
Ratzenberger’s fate
Roland Ratzenberger suffered the same fate as Ayrton Senna just a day earlier. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
Roland Ratzenberger, the rookie driver of the Simtek team fought fiercely to enter the second round of his career. With a crappy car, that was not a given.
The Austrian’s first attempt was ruined when the car skidded off the track. The front wing had a hard time, but Ratzenberger either didn’t know this or didn’t care about it. Instead of coming to the pits, he immediately toasted with the gas at the bottom towards a new time lap. And his fate.
The Tamburello bend was still passed with honor, but after that the front wing broke. Unable to control, Simtek was thrown off the track at almost full speed at the Villeneuve corner. The wreckage of the destroyed F1 car slid hundreds of meters, finally stopping in the middle of the track.
Help arrived quickly, but nothing could be done to save Ratzenberger, who was seriously injured. A couple of hours later, a sad message rushed to the formula depot from the hospital in Bologna. Roland Ratzenberger has died.
“Let’s stop and go fishing”
Senna followed Ratzenberger’s rescue efforts from the side. F1 doctor Sid Watkins saw how the accident shook the Brazilian. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
Ratzenberger’s rescue efforts were watched by a lone figure from the side.
Senna, by far the most famous and brightest driver in the series, had to watch helplessly from the sidelines, how a good friend, the doctor of the F1 series Sid Watkins did everything he could to save Roland’s best life.
The death shocked everyone in the formula pit. Especially Senna.
Watkins later said he spoke with the Brazilian on Saturday night after Ratzenberger’s accident.
– I told him that what if we both quit? Let’s go fishing and put all this behind us, Watkins said.
Senna, shocked as he was, uttered the last words between them to his friend.
– Sid, I can’t stop. I have to go on.
The next day, Watkins was one of the first at the scene of the accident, but even his professionalism did not save Senna.
A beautiful gesture was missed
A small Austrian flag was found in the cockpit of Senna’s wrecked Williams. The Brazilian was supposed to wave it after the race in Ratzenberger’s memory.
That would have been a nice gesture. With this intention, Senna showed how deeply he cared.
What would lie Senna think of Ratzenberger’s fate in his shadow?
While the place where the Brazilian crashed is full of flowers, greetings, obituaries and flags, just a couple of hundred meters away, a few dried roses and a picture remind of another F1 driver who died in Imola in 1994.
There are significantly fewer memorials at the place of Roland Ratzenberger’s death
A couple of dried roses and a picture of the Austrian remind us that a day before Senna, another F1 driver lost his life in Imola.