Ayrton Senna: 10 Years of one of the Darkest Days in Motorsports

[JohnBM01]

Hello, GTPlanet. Please restrain yourself from typing "this is the shortest intro you've ever made," because this is not a play-around topic. I just want to quickly say that we still miss Aryton Senna. I'll admit. I don't know a lot about Mr. Senna, but it was sad to see him go. Not only F1, but the entire racing world still misses Senna. It is a great shame, and still is. Aryton Senna, we still miss you, on this 10th Anniversary of your passing. The 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino was such a dark day in racing. Only thing worse was probably the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans (look online for more information about this ugly race).

Anyhow, I, GTPlanet, FIA, and others in the racing community will still miss you. Thank you for your commitment and your success in racing. Thank you for the memories.

 

[daan]

One for each year.

You will always be missed

21 March 1960 - 1 May 1994

http://www.davidanderson.org.uk/files/monacolap.mpeg








And Le Mans' worst race was 1955

 

[zoxxy]

Originally posted by daan
And Le Mans' worst race was 1955

Why?

 

[daan]

Originally posted by zoxxy
Why?

Why? This is why...

On June 11, 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France a tragic accident occurred on the front straight involving Pierre Levegh and Mike Hawthorn. Levegh's Mercedes was destroyed, killing him instantly. The engine and other pieces of his car were flung over the barrier into the crowd and killed 83 spectators. Though the race continued, Mercedes withdrew their other two cars.

The crash was one of the worst disasters in motorsport history and has changed the sport to this day. After the race France had a temporary moratorium on racing and races around the world were cancelled. Switzerland permanently banned racing and the sport has never been re-established there. Near the end of the 1955 racing season Mercedes shut down all of it's racing operations.

As a result of the accident, safety procedures during races and to protect drivers made huge strides, making motorsport as safe as it is today.

84 people killed.

And now, back to Ayrton....

 

[Solid Lifters]

Speed Channel will air the race tonight, at 8:00PM PST.

 

[Schrodes]

Yes, ten years on. A sad day in motor racing indeed. Just like J F Kennedy or Princess Di, everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news that Ayrton Senna had passed away.
Anyway, whatever did happen to the art of taking one's team-mate out of the race?

 

[everybodysfool]

also dont forget, senna wasn't the only who died on that particular weekend, on that particular track.

 

[Dorifto]

...

 

[millencolin]

i remember i was in a hotel up at caloundra when i heard the news of senna's death. one of the saddest days in motorsport.

but its also ten years on from Roland ratzenburger's death. sure, not at the status of senna, but shouldnt be forgotten either. a man who had to fight his lack of finance to get into f1, another legend.

all f1 drivers are legend, and when one suffers the unthinkable out on the track, they should never be forgotten

R.I.P Ayrton and Roland.........never Forgotten

 

[Solid Lifters]

I just got finished watching the race. It surprised me to hear what happened in the pits. If Roland's death, and Senna's accident, his death wasn't yet known, wasn't enough, near the end of the race a car driving out of the pit lane lost a wheel and it hit some pit crew workers, seriously injuring two workers. Remember, they didn't have a limited pit speed then, like they do now, so that wheel was going very fast.

In Senna's wrecked car, they found an Austrian flag. Senna always held out a Brazilian flag, when he won, after a race was over. He planned to wave this flag in memory of Roland.

 

[millencolin]

thats a nice touch.....if only he got a chance to show it

 

[sUn]

I watched it on SPEED, very sad.

 

[kart racer]

It was a dark day for all motorsports.The only thing good to come from it was the increase in the driver and pitcrew saftey.To bad it had to come with such a high price.

 

[millencolin]

it should of been in place before that....espicially the pitline speed limit

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by Solid Lifters
I just got finished watching the race. It surprised me to hear what happened in the pits. If Roland's death, and Senna's accident, his death wasn't yet known, wasn't enough, near the end of the race a car driving out of the pit lane lost a wheel and it hit some pit crew workers, seriously injuring two workers. Remember, they didn't have a limited pit speed then, like they do now, so that wheel was going very fast.

...and that's not the half of it. Barrichello had a MONSTER accident on the Saturday...

...that very nearly ended up in the grandstands.

There was a huge crash on the startline, with JJ Lehto (returning from injury) stalling his Benetton on the startline, and Pedro Lamy smashing straight into him - four spectators got hit by debris.

.

I remember sitting up watching that race - when it finished, my reaction was 'thank Christ that race's over', only to find out the news about Senna in the morning - although I think I already knew.

 

[Sleek Stratos]

As Steve Matchett said, that whole weekend was just horrendous and everyone just wanted it to stop, it was all just way too much for a single event.

I saw the race both times Speed channel had it on and both times I couldn't help shed a tear at the part where they ran images of Senna in the 80s and early 90s, along with Bob Varsha describing what kind of a character Senna was.

It just wasn't fair.