Imola at 20: Simtek's painful story

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Sometimes in life, we can forget about people so quickly – harshly in most circumstances. That shouldn’t happen to individuals who give their life to a certain dedication. Roland Ratzenberger fits into this category. Although only a newcomer into the sport, the charming Austrian had already become a popular soul in the paddock before he became the first driver to die at the wheel of a racing car in 12 years during qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Ratzenberger was driving for one of the two new teams in the sport, Simtek Grand Prix. Set-up by former FIA president Max Mosley and the hard-working Nick Wirth, Simtek were the natural underdogs of the pitlane who seeked a dream and ultimately went bust for the challenge.

In the fifth edition of the Imola at 20 series and exactly 20 years to the day since Ratzenberger perished at the circuit, I pay tribute to one of the most hard-working teams who never got much more than pain and punishment.

Early founding

Created by Mosley and Wirth, Simtek Research was founded in 1989 and began their journey as a consultancy firm in the world of engineering. Its aim was to be a third party in helping out construct racing chassis and constructions of wind tunnels for competitors to the highest possible standards.

With a facility in Banbury, Simtek built up their contracts in Formula One, Formula 3000 and IndyCars and their engineers ran the BMW 3-series cars that entered the German Touring Car Championship in 1991. Two years later, Wirth’s Grand Prix dream almost came true when Simtek won the contract to design the car for the Bravo Grand Prix team. Unfortunately, the sudden death of Frenchman and project backer of the Bravo team, Jean Francois Mosnier, saw these plans end up in the scrapheap.

With Mosley having sold his stake in Simtek Research to Wirth after becoming FIA president, Nick realised that if he was to achieve his racing dream, he’d have to do it himself rather than through a third party route. So in the summer of 1993, he took the decision to enter Formula One with his own team for 1994. They would be a newcomer on the grid along with Pacific Grand Prix.

There were realistic hopes but good backing for Wirth. The major television cable channel MTV came on board as title sponsors and three-time world champion Sir Jack Brabham became a shareholder, meaning his son David Brabham would drive one of the cars.

However they still needed funding for the second seat. Step forward Roland Ratzenberger.

Roland gets his chance

Having narrowly missed out on a Jordan drive during 1991, Roland Ratzenberger’s own Grand Prix dreams didn’t look like they were going to happen. He’d spent the majority of his junior career racing in formulae in Britain and then in Japan, racing single seaters, touring cars and sportscars. He had joined the Toyota squad to compete at Le Mans, finishing fifth in the 1993 24 Hours event and already having secured a drive for the 94 edition.

However when negotiations broke down with a number of drivers, including Gil de Ferran and the experienced but shunt friendly Andrea de Cesaris, Ratzenberger swooped in to do the deal and take the second seat.

He had impressed the engineers with his technical feedback and dedication to the cause at a winter test, ironically at Imola. He signed a contract for five races to see how things would go for both parties. For most drivers, winning is what drives them on but for Roland Ratzenberger, just being on the grid was a victory in itself.

The odds were against Simtek. Only 35 people were employed in the racing team, only 10 per cent of the staff employed by legendary Italian constructor Ferrari. Also, Wirth had designed an active suspension car for 1994 which of course would have fallen foul of the new regulations put in place at the start of the year. With a heavy chassis, which included a manual gearbox and a less than powerful V8 Ford engine, although reliable – there weren’t any expectations for them to reach the midfield.

Beating Pacific was an achievable goal and they did this in the first two races. Some technical problems and over-exuberance from Ratzenberger meant the veteran Belgian Bertrand Gachot from Pacific got onto the grid instead for the season opener in Brazil. Brabham kept out of trouble though and finished 12^th, although that was the last of the 26 finishers. Three weeks later, both Brabham and Ratzenberger made the grid at the TI Aida circuit, taking the final two spots on the grid. Brabham retired early on but Roland, with previous track knowledge from his Japan days, ended a fighting and proud 11^th.

Despite teething problems, the Simtek project had made a good start but then came Imola.

Tragedy

Both Brabham and Ratzenberger were excited and competitive but enjoyed each other’s company. Roland’s contacts from his days in Asia meant he was close to a number of the drivers in the paddock, including Eddie Irvine, JJ Lehto and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

At Imola, the car looked better in terms of handling stability. With the hopeless Paul Belmondo no threat to anyone but himself in the second Pacific and Rubens Barrichello out of the weekend’s activities following his Friday crash, Simtek were on course for a second successive race with both cars on the grid.

On Saturday, Ratzenberger set a high target, to beat both Gachot and his more experienced teammate Brabham. Whilst the first goal was realistic, the second was possibly too ambitious. Nevertheless, he was full of confidence going into the second qualifying session. On his first out lap, he had an excursion at the Aqua Minerali chicane, which damaged the front assembly of the car. Rather than come back to the pits for checks, the Austrian (pictured below) pushed on to start his first flying lap of the afternoon.

Roland Ratzenberger on his final lap before tragedy strikes

Through Tamburello and the front wing weakened, then failed and already exiting the corner, having built up speed close to 200mph, he had no chance. The impact with the wall at the Villeneuve kink is beyond description and there wasn’t much left of the car when it eventually rolled to a halt at the Tosa hairpin.

Despite the best efforts of the doctors, both at the track and at the Bologna hospital, fatal neck injuries led to Ratzenberger’s death.

The team was inconsolable, as were the rest of the paddock. Bernie Ecclestone urged Simtek to race on to help with the shock. Whilst Bernie’s enthusiasm for the show to carry on was not called for in the circumstances, the team leader shone through.

On race morning, Brabham said: “I lost a close friend yesterday. Though teammates for a mere few weeks, we had already a lot of fun together and had every reason to look forward to a great year with the Simtek team. I am confident that the greatest tribute we can pay to Roland is to race today, hence my decision.”

Bravely, David continued and won many admirers for his spirit, not just at Imola but throughout the rest of the season. Suspension failure put him out of the San Marino event but he would not quit. It was his passion that also kept a devastated Wirth going.

When Ayrton Senna died, the attention switched away, understandably so but the majority seemed to totally forget what had happened to Roland Ratzenberger. On Friday, 6 May 1994 – Ratzenberger was buried in the town of his birthplace, Salzburg in Austria. Compatriots Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger attended, along with his closest pal in the paddock, Frentzen. Mosley went too, adding: “Roland had been forgotten. So I went to his funeral because everyone went to Senna’s. I thought it was important that somebody went to his.”

With Brabham’s courageous attitude, Simtek decided to carry on – adding a ‘For Roland’ sign on the airboxes of the cars. It wouldn’t get any easier.

More agony

The shattered Simtek mechanics then had another write-off when Andrea Montermini, who was signed up to take the seat vacated by the dearly departed Ratzenberger, lost control and crashed heavily during Saturday morning practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. Wirth’s dreams were turning into the stuff of nightmares.

Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon took over the car from the French Grand Prix afterwards and achieved the team’s best ever result on his debut, with ninth place. Brabham finished 10^th in Barcelona. 11^th in Hungary and 12^th in Japan and he started to occasionally outqualify the Lotus and Larrousse cars as the season progressed. When he started a fantastic 21^st in Belgium, Brabham rubbed salt into Erik Comas’ wounds. After Comas had joked that he would retire if ever outqualified by a Simtek a fortnight earlier in Hungary, Brabham did just that at Spa and went on to quip; “I want to wish Erik a happy retirement!” Simtek finished damaged but survived a turbulent 1994 season. They were the best of the debutants and hoped 1995 would be better. It wouldn’t.

MTV decreased their sponsorship levels for 1995 and although Brabham’s heart was with the Simtek project, a huge financial offer from BMW to go and race in the British Touring Car Championship was impossible to ignore. Wirth replaced him with the talented Dutchman Jos Verstappen, partnered by Italian Domenico Schiattarella. The S951 chassis was much better, with Jos qualifying a sensational 14^th in Argentina, and ran as high as sixth before gearbox problems intervened. Schiattarella finished ninth in Buenos Aires but the team’s financial plight was getting worse. £6m in debt and failure to get more financial backing left Wirth in a miserable position. Monaco 1995 was the team’s last race and they filed for liquidation shortly afterwards, taking 48 jobs with it. The assets were auctioned off and Wirth’s dream was over.

He moved to Benetton as an engineer, then chief designer but left the company in 1999 and after an unsuccessful return with Virgin Racing in 2010 and 2011; Wirth has given up on the sport he so wanted to succeed at.

If the funds had been there, Simtek had a decent chance of creating some success. Sadly though, the word pain dominates Nick Wirth’s dream. For Roland Ratzenberger, at least he achieved his ambition, even if it was far too short-lived.

Categories: 1994, Austria, BMW, David Brabham, Imola, Max Mosley, Nick Wirth, Roland Ratzenberger, Simtek

Will The Jump be back next year?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

When Channel 4 decided to proceed with The Jump, they were planning a nice warm-up in this miserable weather climate of celebrities learning how to compete at winter sports in the build-up to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. What they got ultimately was a programme that turned into one of the most dangerous in reality television history.

The celebrities who took part ranged from Olympic medallists and pop singers to glamour models and reality show regulars but it was the general hospital in Innsbruck, Austria that seemed more accustomed to seeing them rather than the competition the general public witnessed, both in Austria and on television.

The series was eventually won by former X-Factor winner Joe McElderry, who beat Donal MacIntyre in the final. To top it off, both were replacements which defeated the object of the entire series. So did Channel 4 get it wrong? Was it good television or too dangerous and more importantly, will it get another series next year?

The concept of the programme

Initially planned to be The Alpine Games two years ago, the programme producers offered the plan to ITV first but they turned it down as they deemed it to be too dangerous. It seems like their caution was the right move.

Needing a boost in ratings to compete with programmes on at this time of year such as Splash, Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 4 put a lot of time and effort into the programme. Nine winter sports would be tested out, such as the giant slalom, speed skating and the terrifying skeleton. Experts including skeleton gold medallist Amy Williams and UK Sport performance director Graham Bell were brought in to help the rookies tame their fears and bring out their competitive streak.

They would compete in these events on a day-by-day basis and the bottom two on each evening would have to do a live ski jump, with the individual recording the lowest distance being eliminated from the competition. The idea was there, the concept sounded good but the execution of The Jump probably backfired.

12 celebrities started but none of these competitors would win The Jump

What The Jump did manage was to get a solid crop of celebrities. Taking part were British Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave, former cricketer Darren Gough, 80s pop singer Sinitta, TV presenter Anthea Turner, ex-Five member Ritchie Neville, model Melinda Messenger, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, comedian Marcus Brigstocke, hairdresser Nicky Clarke, presenter Laura Hamilton, TOWIE favourite Amy Childs and socialite Henry Conway.

Little did they know the injuries they would collect and that none of them would be crowned winner of The Jump.

Injuries galore

Gough was the first to go down with injury with various accidents in training and two awkward crashes on the ski slopes in rehearsals before the main show. When he exited on day three of the competition, the relief was clear to see. His body had taken a battering and it was pretty silly that medical advice didn’t intervene to pull him out before serious damage was done.

Henry Conway was next on the casualty list. An injury picked up during training for the skeleton event left him with a broken hand and devastated to be leaving the competition. It opened the door for McElderry to come in as a replacement, defeating MacIntyre in a live ski jump.

One injury is unfortunate and it can happen on any show, while another taking a pasting can be seen as careless but once Melinda Messenger was forced to withdraw after suffering concussion in bobsleigh training, The Jump was quickly turning into a medical drama rather than a winter sports competition.

The final was farcical itself. After a nasty accident on the slopes that had worrying echoes of the crash off-piste that has left racing superstar Michael Schumacher fighting for his life in hospital, Sir Steve Redgrave was in grave trouble. A fractured rib left him in deep pain. He battled on in his true Olympic competitive spirit but he had to call it quits on the morning of the final event, realising it was a risk too far, even for an Olympian who has achieved it all in his superb career. 

Then, comedian Marcus Brigstocke – a popular member of the celebrities had a monumental shunt off the final jump of the risky ski cross event. Screeching in pain from the moment he landed, it looked distressing to watch. An ankle injury meant he became the fourth contender eliminated through injury. 

The other two finalists also weren’t unscathed. McElderry lost control in the final event and took a nasty bang to the head but made it to the final jump-off. MacIntyre, who was growing in confidence with every event, had a big crash in rehearsals for the jump-off to be crowned champion, cutting his lip and leaving him with a black eye. McElderry won almost by default – he was last man standing and it destroyed what promised to be a competitive final night of action.

Presenting problems

Davina McCall and Alex Brooker were the co-hosts of The Jump. I’m not Davina’s biggest fan considering my pure hatred of Big Brother but she has done a superb job hosting the tense quiz The Million Pound Drop in recent years. Having started her TV career presenting Don’t Try This At Home for ITV back in 1998, she is no stranger to shows that ramp up the risk element. On the final night, Davina proved her daredevil ability by jumping off the K-40 – the biggest jump in the competition and landed it successfully and with style. Sadly her presenting control on the programme wasn’t quite up to the same standard. She hasn’t lost a huge amount by hosting The Jump but it did lack the command that sometimes a show that struggles needs from its anchor.

Brooker is most familiar appearing regularly on the panel show The Last Leg. However his presenting ability for this show was disappointing and pretty lame. There was no chemistry between him and McCall and therefore without any leadership from the front, The Jump began to fall down from the word go.

Reception and plus points

Despite the injuries galore, there were some pluses with The Jump. With it on a nightly basis, it was easy to follow or simply drop out of. I decided to watch it as it was something different and it is so much better than Splash. If I wanted to see diving on TV, I’d just watch a game from the Barclays Premier League on Sky Sports rather than Tom Daley’s pitiful programme.

The Jump held no fears for some, but left many needing medical attention

Some of the celebrities showed no fear. Kimberley Wyatt stepped out of the background and into the limelight. Often overshadowed by former Pussycat Dolls in recent years, Nicole Scherzinger and Ashley Roberts, Wyatt won many fans with her attitude to both competition and the way she never gave up. Her dramatic exit in the quarter-final was a real shame, as she had the potential out of all the celebrities who started to win it. Anthea Turner was another who should be praised for taking on anything thrown at her without any fear – something you couldn’t say about Amy Childs who was a nightmare and eventually wimped out like a baby on the second evening of competition.

Barry Davies reminded us all of his golden age in the commentary box. His humour and wit in guiding the viewer through the events was class. Of course, this is the man who famously said in the 1988 Seoul Olympics; ‘Where were the German defence, but frankly, who cares!’

The reception from TV critics it got though was largely negative. Digital Spy’s Alex Fletcher wrote: “It was more painful than a snowball in the mouth” whilst The Independent’s Sally Newall commented: “A bonkers, scary mash-up of Big Brother and Ski Sunday.”  

The ratings also agreed with the experts. Starting at 2.6m viewers on opening night, fans of The Jump melted away in the days that followed. By the end, a million viewers had been lost – with a measly 1.7m tuning in for the final. Even Australian daytime soaps, Neighbours and Home & Away attracted better rating figures despite their scheduling last week.

So how would I sum up The Jump? It was something different and clever that turned into a television danger zone. While I watched it all the way through for the interest of something new, I don’t think I’d tune in if it returned in 2015. In fact, I don’t think many will be shedding tears when this winter sports laughing stock is put to sleep and into the television graves of reality show failures. 

Categories: Austria, Channel 4, Donal MacIntyre, Injury, Joe McElderry, Sir Steve Redgrave, Skating, Ski Jump, Sochi, Winter Olympics