Most people will remember, or at least be aware of, May 1, 1994. That was the day at Imola, Italy, when Ayrton Senna was tragically killed at that year's San Marino Grand Prix. More on that tomorrow...
However, most people probably won't remember that the day before, April 30, Roland Ratzenberger became Formula One's first casualty in 12 years.
The unpleasant atmosphere in Formula One in the spring of 1994 was bubbling to the surface before the San Marino Grand Prix with pressure building for a solution to the problems of electronic driver aids, which the sport's governing body, the FIA, was obviously having trouble controlling. Although these aids were banned there was suspicion that Benetton was still using them. No-one had anticipated the disastrous weekend that was ahead.
The disasters began on Friday when Rubens Barrichello crashed his Jordan heavily at the fast corner before the pits. The car took off and hit the top of the barrier. It was then launched back onto the track where it came to rest upside down. Barrichello was unconscious and he had swallowed his tongue but quick intervention from the medical teams saved him although he was out for the rest of the weekend.
The next day was even worse when Roland Ratzenberger crashed at high speed into the wall at Villeneuve Corner (named after the late Gilles Villeneuve). The front wing of his car had broken away and launched it off the ground at 200mph. It hit the wall at around 180mph and came to a halt with Ratzenberger slumped in the wreck. He was beyond help but was flown to hospital in Bologna, where he was officially certified dead a few minutes after arrival.
Roland was an immensely popular driver who shot to prominence when he won the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1986. This led to a chance to become a BMW factory touring car driver but his efforts in single seaters were frustrated and he eventually went to Japan where he joined the Stellar team and won a Japanese Formula 3000 event at Suzuka in 1992.
Roland got backing from his friend Barbara Behlau, the German born Monaco resident who ran a managing company for artists. The money he could bring to the new Simtek team in Formula One was good for the first half of the season, and Roland was sure that he could perform in such a way to secure the drive for the rest of the season. (In fact, Behlau helped Simtek to survive 1994 and early '95 even after Roland's death.)
When Roland talked to the Austrian media at lunch time on the Saturday at Imola, he was somehow upbeat. He knew he could beat team-mate David Brabham and was sure to qualify for his second grand prix after missing the cut in Brazil in an unprepared car and finishing 11th in the Pacific Grand Prix two weeks before. "Let's continue after qualifying, I am running out of time," he said to Gerald Pototchnig of Kliene Zeitung at 12:50 before climbing into his race car.
Roland is buried in the Maxglan cemetery, around five minutes from Salzburg Airport. In this small and quiet place, right in the shadow of the church, you will find a grave that is always rich with fresh flowers. It is probably the only one where you will meet foreign visitors, especially Japanese. And where you will see a traditional Japanese stone - a memorial gift from the Stellar team - saying simply "Roland Ratzenburger, fatally injured during practice for the F1 race in Imola."
