The tragic death of Roland Ratzenberger, which occurred during the qualifying of the San Marino GP in Imola, deeply affected Ayrton Senna: the former President of the Automobile Club of Bologna reveals a background story.
Roland Ratzenberger left us thirty years ago: on 30 April 1994, the Austrian driver died during qualifying for the San Marino GP, in tragic weekend in Imola. The events that occurred in those days have entered the history of Formula 1 as the darkest weekend ever.
It was 1986 when the last fatal accident occurred on an F1 track; Elio De Angelis lost his life while filming in Le Castellet on 14 May of that year. Ratzenberger’s is a “forgotten” tragedypartly because it was overshadowed by the death of an icon like Ayrton Senna – who would die the following day – and partly because he was a lesser-known driver.
L’lawyer Federico Bendinelli he remembers very well that dramatic day when Ratzenberger died. At the time he was the President of the Automobile Club Bologna, head of Sagis which managed the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack in Imola.
“I still feel great anguish over the irrational chain of disastrous events in so few days,” says Bendinelli in an interview with Il Resto del Carlino.
Following the events that occurred, the Imola circuit was flooded with accusations. There was, however, a backstory. About twenty days before the race, Ayrton Senna he went to the racetrack.
“As a champion that he was, attentive to all the details, he wanted to see the asphalt of the track“recalls the lawyer. “I accompanied him on a walking reconnaissance of the circuit during which he confided his thoughts to me technical concerns related to single-seater after the abolition of ‘intelligent’ suspensions. He therefore had to keep the new suspensions very low to have good roadholding.”
Senna said that he had to win at Imola to reopen the championship. That year, Williams had started very badly, and a future champion could already be seen on the horizon: Michael Schumacher, driving for Benetton at the time. The Brazilian then “he showed us some places to eliminate the ripples in the asphalt. We carried out all the required interventions and on the Thursday before the competition, we drove another lap in my car.”
In the end, Bendinelli remembers the last time he saw Ayrton Senna alive: he was on the starting grid on the day of the race, May 1, 1994. “He looked strange with that sad expression that I will never forget. Ratzenberger’s death had affected him tremendously.”
Cover image credits: Copyright Photo4 / XPB Images
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