The August 28, 1992 it was very hot in Spa, where free practice for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix was underway. Suddenly a Ligier Renault (the JS37) skids, ends up against the barriers at the fastest corner of the track, Blanchimont. He crashes into the barriers and bounces onto the track, stopping. The pilot faints. It is the Frenchman Eric Comas, 29 years old. From the archive, the images show a helmet bent to the left, inert. And the audio shows an engine still at full revs: Comas’ foot remained pressed on the accelerator and there is the risk of the engine exploding.
A McLaren arrives and the reigning world champion Ayrton Sennanot seeing the rescuers arriving, decides to intervene even though other cars are still racing: parks, gets out of the car and goes first thing to turn off the Ligier’s enginethen to clear Comas’ airways to prevent him from choking on his own tongue. «I would have been suffocated if he hadn’t supported my neck – recalled the Frenchman – Even my teammate (Thierry Boutsen, ed) had continued straight ahead. Ayrton had a pure and extraordinary heart».
21 months pass and we are at that tragic moment May 1st 1994. Sunday. Race to Imola and at 2.17pm the tragic accident at Senna arrives. Comas ran for the that year Larrousse. At the moment of impact he was in the pits due to a technical problem, and neither he nor his mechanics knew that the red flag had been displayed. Then he drove off again and about 300 meters later it passed right by Tamburelloslowed down when he saw the helicopter and the ambulance, then stopped: «I understood that Ayrton had had the accident – he said in 2015 toTeam – The Ayrton’s helmet he was in the car, he was on the grass but I couldn’t look at him, it hurt too much. I was standing still a few meters away from him, and I remember smelling death. I was paralyzed and started crying. The doctors made me sit in the ambulance and I immediately understood that it was the endwithout anyone telling me.”
Distraught, the driver who would have liked to help Ayrton as he had saved him, returned to the pits choosing not to run that race. Unique among all pilots who still had the right to it. «I decided not to run. I was at the airport and on TV they kept showing images of Ayrton, of the accident. Shortly before boarding I learned that he had died. From that day on I hated Formula 1.” In fact, he quit after the Japanese Grand Prix that year, even though he felt like an ex from that damned day. With even one more regret: «It was devastating not to be able to help him, not to be able to help those who had saved my life two years earlier. Emotionally, psychologically it was heavier than my accident.” And again: «Ayrton was God for us pilots, and seeing God die was terrible. For me there was a life before and after May 1, 1994.”
