30 April 2024 , 06:00
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For many years, he was the forgotten 'other' victim of F1's bloodiest race weekend.
As a three-time F1 champion adored by millions, Ayrton Senna's death after crashing at Imola in 1994 sparked an outpouring of grief. Unfairly, Roland Ratzenberger's demise at the same venue a day earlier became a detail in Senna's story.
Unlike the Brazilian, Ratzenberger was far from a household name. He was 33 years old but had only started one F1 race before he rocked up at Imola, having lost seats in previous years due to sponsorship issues.
In the UK, it was his name rather than his driving ability which had caught the attention of the public. He leaned into comparisons with Roland Rat, the popular children's character on TV-AM and struck a deal to bear the ITV show's branding on his Formula Ford car.
Ratzenberger even took part in a 'race' against his near-namesake, pitting his competitive car against the rodent's bright pink Ford Anglia. The Austrian lost - his sneaky opponent had convinced a mechanic to fill his fuel tank with water - but used his new-found fame to build a career in British racing.
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That included spells competing in Formula Three, Formula 3000 and the British Touring Car Championship. Ratzenberger worked so hard and for so long to finally make it to F1 that it is even more cruel that he met such a tragic end while qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix.
A day earlier, Rubens Barrichello had survived a sickening high-speed crash, saved by swift medical attention from Professor Sid Watkins and his medical team. But nothing could be done to help the Simtek driver after he slammed into a concrete wall at high speed.
Ratzenberger was under pressure to perform, with his sponsor in attendance and only a few races left on his contract. A lap before his crash, he had gone off track but, feeling that his car was still in good shape, decided against pitting for a proper check. He had no idea that his front wing had been damaged and, at the high-speed Villeneuve corner, it came off and got stuck underneath his car.
The 195mph impact created a force of around 500G - the biggest ever measured in an F1 crash. Damon Hill, who drove for Williams at the time, said: "I went past the wreckage of Roland's car and my heart sank because it looked pretty bad immediately."
While every active F1 driver at the time attended Senna's funeral, just five were present at Ratzenberger's along with FIA president Max Mosley. For more than 20 years, there was no permanent tribute to the Austrian at Imola, though there is now a memorial plaque.
Remembrance events for both drivers are planned around the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in mid-May.