Imola at 20: How lucky was Rubens Barrichello?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

This week marks the 20^th anniversary of the nightmare at Imola in 1994 for Formula One. It was a weekend of catastrophic events that changed motorsport irreversibly. On Viewing Perspectives this week, I am looking back at some of the events that made the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix such a hellish weekend for all concerned in the sport.

Imola at 20 continues tonight with a look into the accident that started the weekend’s chain of terrifying accidents. Grand Prix’s luck ran out in the days afterwards with the fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and of course Ayrton Senna but it remained intact just about on Friday, 29 April 1994. Rubens Barrichello had a huge shunt at the Variante Bassa but escaped with only minor injuries. However, how lucky was Barrichello to survive his crash at Imola?

The prodigal Brazilian

A young Rubens Barrichello was considered by many to be the country’s next bright spark in Formula One. At just 21, he had made his debut in the sport in the previous year and despite not having decent equipment at his disposal, Barrichello put in some starring performances in the Jordan Hart car of 1993. Only a fuel pressure problem robbed him of a famous podium in just his third race at Donington Park and he finished a fine fifth on his first visit to the testing Suzuka track, home of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Barrichello was loved within the Jordan team and was retained for 1994. Together with fellow youngster and countryman Christian Fittipaldi, who had moved to the solid Footwork squad, both were considered as potential heirs to Ayrton Senna who took great time in mentoring the young prodigals of Brazilian motorsport.

Rubens started 1994 on a crest of a wave. A fine fourth place finish at his home event was followed by a maiden visit to the podium with third spot at the Pacific Grand Prix at the tight and dusty TI Aida circuit. He arrived at Imola in second place in the championship with seven points. Only the dominant Michael Schumacher had also scored in both world championship events.

Desperate action

Barrichello was 10^th fastest in the Friday morning practice session before afternoon qualifying and looked like he would be in the mix with the Sauber cars, the Tyrrell’s and Martin Brundle’s McLaren for qualifying positions inside the first five rows. That all changed on his first flying lap.

Approaching the end of his first quick run, Rubens lost sudden control of his car in the second part of the fast Variante Bassa chicane just before the pits at Imola. He then caught an outside kerb at some 140 mph, which immediately launched him into the air. By sheer luck and nothing more, Barrichello hit the final row of tyres at the top of the barrier, the momentum and speed enough to roll his Jordan car twice, before remaining upside down when it came to a halt.

He was knocked unconscious and the session was immediately stopped with Senna having just gone fastest. Less than 20 seconds after impact, an over-exuberant marshal turned Barrichello’s car over and gave the unconscious driver a sudden jolt. While this individual was only trying to do his job, this could easily have given Barrichello serious spinal injuries from the landing. Luckily it didn’t and only around 60 seconds later, Professor Sid Watkins and his medical team arrived at the crash site to treat the driver (pictured below).

The medical team arrive only moments after Rubens Barrichello's huge accident

Precautions were taken to stabilise the 22-year-old. Watkins managed to prevent Barrichello from swallowing his tongue which was blocking his airway. If the Doc hadn’t managed to do this, it is almost certain he would have died. It would have been a similar outcome if it was catch fencing and not tyre barrier that Rubens had hit. Sheer luck plays a part in this story.

He was taken to the circuit’s medical centre. Senna was one of the first to go and visit him, before telling reporters; “He’s alright, he’s shocked of course but he’s alright.” After being transferred for further observation to the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, Barrichello was released the next day and returned to the circuit briefly to say his farewells to his pitcrew. Only a broken nose prevented him from taking part in the remainder of the weekend’s activities. Along with an evident cut to his lip and bruising, he was so lucky to not be the first victim of this weekend.

Confidence

Qualifying resumed as normal once the track was cleared. The majority believing the worst of the weekend’s moments was behind them. Damon Hill described the feeling back in 2004, saying: “We all brushed ourselves off and carried on qualifying, reassured that our cars were tough as tanks and we could be shaken but not hurt.” Everyone would have agreed with this sentiment until Ratzenberger’s fatal crash a day later.

The late F1 medical delegate Professor Sid Watkins, who died in September 2012 after a short illness wrote in his 1996 book ‘Life at the Limit’: “By the time the helicopter took off to take Rubens to hospital, we were all fairly confident that he was going to be alright. Spirits were high; congratulations to the medical team were welcomed. The system had worked and the result was joyful.”

Barrichello put aside his own personal grief after Senna’s death and claimed Jordan’s first pole position in a wet qualifying session at Spa later that year. He finished sixth in the drivers’ championship in 1994 and went on to drive in over 300 races for Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn GP and Williams, winning nine races and coming in as runner-up in the championship standings to teammate Schumacher in 2002 and 2004. After a year in IndyCars in 2012, Rubens is now racing stock cars in his homeland and also entering into a media career with TV Globo in Brazil.

Sometimes, you are lucky in life and there is no doubt that Rubens Barrichello falls into that category. Fate and fortune were on his side that day at Imola and we are all thankful that he went on to have such a strong and likeable career that spanned another 17 seasons after Imola in 1994.

Categories: 1994, Ayrton Senna, Imola, Jordan, Motorsport, Professor Sid Watkins, Rubens Barrichello, Tyres, Variante Bassa

Imola at 20: Why did Erik Comas stop at Tamburello?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Motorsport is dangerous, it always has been and always will be but no-one could predict the horrific chain reaction of accidents that marred the weekend at the Imola circuit in April/May 1994. By the end of the weekend, mechanics and spectators had been hurt, and two drivers had been killed on consecutive days – one of them perhaps the greatest human being ever to have sat behind a steering wheel – Ayrton Senna.

20 years on and in a series of daily posts on Viewing Perspectives – I reflect on San Marino 1994 as we approach this sad and painful anniversary. Whilst my Formula One passion has dwindled in the last year, the past can’t be ignored. Coming up this week, there will be pieces on the rule changes, the pain the Simtek team had to deal with following Roland Ratzenberger’s death and pay tribute to Ayrton Senna by choosing his top five races of his career.

This piece though focuses on one of the stranger incidents of that horror weekend. Why did Frenchman Erik Comas stop at Tamburello to try and save Ayrton Senna?

Spa history

Erik Comas was among a crop of promising French drivers emerging in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along with Jean Alesi and Eric Bernard, he was producing some great results in the junior categories. After losing out on the 1989 F3000 title to Alesi on count-back of positions, Comas went one better and achieved the crown in 1990.

That won him a Formula One contract with Ligier for 1991 but the French team was already in rapid decline. Only minor points finishes were achieved with fifth place his best result in the 1992 French Grand Prix. It was four races later though where he cheated death.

On a sunny Friday morning during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, Comas had a monumental accident at the fast Blanchimont corner and was knocked out in the impact. Senna was the first driver to approach the scene. He drove past slowly and seeing the stillness of the Ligier driver, he switched his engine off and got out of his car, rushing to the aide of his stricken colleague. Senna managed to switch Comas’ engine off to stop a potential leaking of petrol that could be catastrophic and held his head in a stable position until medical assistance arrived on the scene.

Senna was the only driver to stop to help him. Even Erik’s Ligier teammate at the time drove past. In an interview recorded in French years later, Comas revealed what he was told of Senna’s heroism. He said: “I don’t remember anything but I have seen the videos. The front right wheel hit me on the helmet which knocked me out. The car then slid back onto the track but I was accelerating full throttle. Ayrton arrived and immediately heard the sounds, the revving of the engine. He stopped, took off his seatbelt and came running towards me while there were still cars running. He then looked for the short circuit and shutdown my car because at that time, there was a real risk of an explosion or fire. It’s likely Ayrton saved my life at that moment.”

Attempting to return the favour

When Senna crashed on Sunday, 1 May 1994 – the rest of the field carried on racing as they would during a Grand Prix. The race was halted pretty quickly and the medics started working on the stricken Brazilian. Comas was desperate to find out what state his friend was in.

He revealed: “For the first time in my career, I find myself sitting next to him at the driver’s briefing. Ayrton was very touched by the accidents of the weekend; he remarked that something had to be done to prevent this from happening. However I do not believe at all there was emotional weakness behind Ayrton’s accident.”

Erik Comas driving in the prettier of the two Larrousse liveries of 1994

Comas was now driving for the financially crippled Larrousse team who had split liveries for the season (green livery pictured above). At Imola, he and teammate Olivier Beretta were driving in the hideous and ugly looking red and white striped Larrousse car with heavy sponsorship from French beer Kronenbourg. Whether it was Larrousse or the track officials who made the mistake to wave him out of the pits during the red flag, it could have had even further tragic consequences.

Eurosport commentators Allard Kalff and John Watson are stunned (video below) when they hear the noise of Comas’ Ford engine scream out of the pits and drive virtually flat-out to the scene of the crash. Only at the last moment did marshals managed to flag Comas down, narrowly missing corner workers and the helicopter that had landed on the track to airlift Senna to hospital in Bologna.

Comas added: “When I came up to Tamburello, the medical helicopter, the ambulances, Ayrton’s car…were already there. I saw Ayrton was already put on a stretcher so I stopped my car. I was in the middle of the track a few feet away from the drama.

“As I arrived, I understood that…there was a message…that Ayrton was a man who sort of radiated and there it felt like an atomic bomb just exploded at Tamburello. There truly was a very heavy atmosphere hanging over the area and without knowing any details, I knew it was very bad. A sort of paralysis came over me because there I was standing next to a man who two years earlier had saved my life and I couldn’t do anything to help him. That felt horrible.”

Distressed by what he had seen as medical staff attempted to revive Senna, Comas retired from the race and it was a pain that he only revealed 10 years later to French television. He went on to say in the interview that Williams should never had allowed Senna’s teammate Damon Hill to take the second start and the podium celebrations that happened afterwards were scandalous as everyone knew at least the severity of Senna’s condition by the end of the race.

For Comas, he was done with Formula One. His motivation and passion for the sport was gone and he quietly went away at the end of the 1994 season, continuing his racing career in Japan. Today, he runs Comas Historic Racing which provides paying customers the chance to enter historic rallies driving cars from his fleet of automobiles.

Some will feel that the actions of Erik Comas on that Imola weekend were idiotic and unforgivable. Whilst driving out of the pits at full speed was brainless, he was only concerned for a man who had saved him from a similar fate less than 18 months earlier at Spa in 1992. He had his reasons for stopping at Tamburello and it is a sight that always will remain with him, even 20 years on from these distressing moments of anguish for everyone connected with Grand Prix motor racing.

Categories: 1994, 20, Ayrton Senna, Erik Comas, Imola, Larrousse, Medical, Motorsport, Spa, Tamburello

Imola at 20: A dreadful weekend relived

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

There are some moments where if you were old enough, you will remember where you were when a historic moment occurred. Events such as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, 9/11, 7/7 and Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009 probably spring to immediate thoughts.

Those connected with the world of sport will have the same when relieving the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, England’s 5-1 football win over Germany two years earlier and Super Saturday at the Olympics in London. If you can remember, the same sadly applies to the events of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Motorsport is dangerous, it always has been and always will be but no-one could predict the horrific chain reaction of accidents that marred the weekend at the Imola circuit in April/May 1994. By the end of the weekend, mechanics and spectators had been hurt, and two drivers had been killed on consecutive days – one of them perhaps the greatest human being ever to have sat behind a steering wheel – Ayrton Senna.

20 years on and in a series of daily posts on Viewing Perspectives – I reflect on San Marino 1994 as we approach this sad and painful anniversary. Whilst my Formula One passion has dwindled in the last year, the past can’t be ignored. Coming up this week, there will be pieces on the rule changes, the pain the Simtek team had to deal with following Roland Ratzenberger’s death and pay tribute to Ayrton Senna by choosing his top five races of his career.

However, it is only appropriate to start this series, Imola at 20 with a lookback at just what occurred on Friday 29 April, Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May 1994.

Early warnings

The paddock arrived at the popular Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari for the third round of the 1994 championship. German wunderkind Michael Schumacher had comfortably won the first two events in Brazil and at the TI Aida track under the Pacific Grand Prix banner. 

Championship favourite Ayrton Senna had scored absolutely nothing in points and was under pressure to deliver. Autosport magazine ran on their front cover SCHUMACHER 20, SENNA 0 in their preview to the weekend.

Senna was a previous three-time winner at the track and was desperate to perform, despite still big concerns about the handling of the evil Williams Renault FW16. He set the pace in Friday qualifying by some distance but reported to his race engineer David Brown that the balance was worse than it had been a fortnight earlier at the tight and twisty Aida track.

Friday brought a chilling omen though to the weekend’s forthcoming events. Early on in Friday qualifying, Rubens Barrichello had a massive accident at the Variante Bassa. The Jordan driver overshot the chicane and somersaulted into the barriers, narrowly avoiding catch fencing that probably would have killed him. Despite the ferocity of the accident, Barrichello suffered only minor cuts, bruises and a broken nose but his weekend was over.

Everyone hoped that would be the only lucky escape of the weekend but F1’s luck was about to run out.

Luck runs out on the sport

Around 18 minutes into Saturday’s second qualifying session, 31-year-old Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger left the circuit at the flat-out Villeneuve kink on the approach to the Tosa hairpin. Ratzenberger was travelling at close to 200mph, unaware that an excursion on a previous lap had damaged the front wing of his Simtek Ford. As he went to start his next flying lap, the wing weakened and fell off exiting Tamburello. With no control on his steering or braking, he stood little chance.

The impact was destructive as the wrecked chassis finally reached a stop point at Tosa, with Ratzenberger slumped in the cockpit and clearly in big trouble. Marshals quickly gathered around him to prevent any further distressing images to television viewers around the globe. The fraternity was stunned – Senna close to tears in the Williams garage when he realised how big the shunt had been. He went down to the scene of the crash to see the damage for himself. 

When he got back, he told Brown and teammate Damon Hill that he had no chance of surviving.

Sure enough, FIA press officer Martin Whittaker had the tough task of confirming the death of Roland Ratzenberger on arrival at the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna. His fatality was the first in a Formula One racing car in eight years – the last being Elio de Angelis perishing at the wheel of a Brabham during a test session at Paul Ricard, France in 1986. The last driver to die on a racing weekend was Riccardo Paletti at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix.

Qualifying did resume but Benetton, Williams and Sauber immediately withdrew from carrying on that day. Everyone looked lost and wondered what they were doing racing in these circumstances. Senna claimed a joyless 65^th pole position from Schumacher, Ferrari favourite Gerhard Berger and Hill. If Saturday had been a hellish day, Sunday would be even worse.

The king of racing is dead

Sunday morning began with a minute’s silence and the confirmation of the reformation of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association). Three-time world champion Niki Lauda would chair the new committee with a meeting scheduled to improve safety from the next event in Monaco two weeks after Imola. Senna, Berger and Schumacher were among the prime movers.

With Ratzenberger’s fatal crash still on everyone’s mind, the show must go on and the 25 cars lined up for the start of the race. Senna looked pensive and very thoughtful on the starting grid as he sat in his FW16 chassis. This wasn’t a weekend for happy faces.

At the green light, there was more trouble. The unsighted Lotus of Pedro Lamy careered into the stalled Benetton of JJ Lehto on the grid. Lamy’s car was shattered but the Portuguese driver walked away without injury. Lehto likewise but an errant tyre from the Lotus vaulted a fence and entered an area where spectators were located. A policeman and seven fans were injured by the flying debris, although lightly in comparison to the weekend’s earlier events.

Rather than choose to halt proceedings, the safety car was deployed whilst marshals cleared up the wrecked cars and the various pieces of carbon fibre. Senna still led Schumacher, Berger, Hill and the fast-starting Sauber Mercedes of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. After five laps at reduced speed, the race restarted again with the top two breaking away considerably from the chasing pack.

The wrecked Williams of Ayrton Senna is returned to the pits

Senna had been faster than Schumacher all weekend but the Benetton’s aggressive three-stop strategy plan meant he was keeping up with the Brazilian. Entering Tamburello on lap seven, Senna’s car went straight on rather than turning to the left kink of the bend. He was powerless to correct the car and headed straight for the concrete wall. The Williams rebounded towards the racing track, stopping just short of the tarmac in a crumpled wreck (pictured being taken back to the pits) with the Brazilian motionless. The race was stopped.

From an early stage, it became clear that Senna was at best gravely injured. The accident had been heavy but he would have walked away unharmed had it not been for a piece of suspension assembly from the car that broke away and pierced the great man’s helmet. Professor Sid Watkins and the rest of the medical team got to work and a helicopter quickly arrived on the circuit. Watkins later revealed that when he got to the scene, he could see that from Senna’s neurological signs, it would be a fatal accident.

After 45 minutes of work, Senna was airlifted to hospital in Bologna and the race was unbelievably restarted. For the record, Schumacher was beaten off the line by Berger but quickly passed the Ferrari and went on to win by over a minute from the second Ferrari of Nicola Larini and Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren Peugeot. Berger retired due to a handling imbalance with his car, whilst Hill finished a lapped sixth after contact with Schumacher on the first lap of the restart. There was also another accident in the pitlane that injured mechanics from Ferrari and Lotus when an errant wheel came off Michele Alboreto’s Minardi after his second pitstop.

The most important thing now was to find out Senna’s condition. The news came through before 6pm UK time that he was clinically dead at the age of just 34, as confirmed by Sky News (video below).

It had been a truly terrible weekend and 20 years on – the pain for those closely associated to both Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna will never go away. Both left memories and they will never be forgotten by anyone who is involved in the Grand Prix fraternity today.

Categories: 1994, Ayrton Senna, Death, Imola, Motorsport, Roland Ratzenberger, Rubens Barrichello, San Marino, Simtek, Williams

Autosport International Show 2014 - Plenty of cars, plenty of colour

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The motorsport season officially began for many budding fans of the sport this weekend. Some of the finest and colourful models were on display to the public for the 2014 Autosport International Show.

The annual exhibition, once again in Birmingham’s vast and spacious LG Arena or in the NEC as it might be better known saw some of last season’s cars pitted together with new designs for 2014 and echoes of a great past. As ever I made the trip on Saturday, 11 January for the 11^th successive year. Leaving Birmingham, I couldn’t say I had been shortchanged in going.

The Live Action Arena produced the usual blend of thrills and spills. Hosted by Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft and Pollyanna Woodward from Channel 5 programme The Gadget Show, the content was diverse from stunt driving to BRISCA racing and a display by the six contenders nominated for the prestigious McLaren Autosport Young Driver award. After a slow burning beginning with a fair amount of talking from the hosts, the action hotted up in the second part of the programme with the Freestyle Motocross at the end of the performance a definite highlight. Even if you left feeling a bit disappointed with the general content, everyone who had tickets for the arena would have to admit it was worth the value to see these experts in action.

One of the main selling points of the 2014 show was a grand exhibition of cars to celebrate the life and career of British racing driver John Surtees. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of his 1964 Grand Prix championship triumph with Ferrari and the great man was in attendance all weekend to reminisce about the past and share his thoughts on the current breed of driver. Among the exhibits of a man who is still the only individual to win major world championships on two and four wheels were his F1 winning car from 1964 which won races in Italy and on Germany’s daunting Nurburgring circuit and the 1970 Team Surtees TS7 which made its debut on home soil at Brands Hatch in that year. I was surprised with how good the quality of this part of the exhibition was and it was a fitting mark to a man who I think is sadly often overlooked for his achievements in British and world motorsport.

As ever, the Autosport Stage in association with KX Momentum Energy Drink was a place for the stars to be interviewed with some lucky fans winning tickets to the 2014 British Grand Prix for testing and challenging questions. It was short of mega superstars from Formula One although respected commentator Martin Brundle was a frequent visitor to the stage throughout the weekend. New Sauber driver Adrian Sutil was there too but only for the Sunday of the exhibition and Max Chilton was the other Grand Prix driver in attendance. After a 100 per cent finishing record in his maiden season in the elite, Chilton was confirmed this weekend as a Marussia driver once again for 2014. The show must carry on but there was also a small box for guests to come and leave messages of support for Michael Schumacher following his recent skiing accident which has left him fighting for his life. It was a nice gesture but I was personally disappointed there were no cards or paper left out for guests to fill out and post in the box. It was a good thing I brought pen and paper to the event. If you didn’t and wanted to leave a message for Schumacher, I’d imagine you’d be leaving a little bit annoyed.

The F1 Racing Grid was the last chance to see cars in their V8 guise

The F1 Racing Grid returned for another year and was a real highlight of this year’s proceedings. It was the last time that visitors will get to see the F1 cars in the previous regulations of the V8 era (Lotus Renault car pictured above). 2014 brings a new raft of technical changes including the return of turbocharged power and a switch to V6 units. There was easier access to the cars throughout apart of course from when top guests arrived to be interviewed. Sky commentator Brundle admitted in one of his many exchanges this weekend that “all bets are off for the 2014 season.”

It is fair to say that Pirelli attracted some difficult publicity in 2013, most notably when the Italian manufacturer’s tyres kept blowing up during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last June. Question the tyre construction if you want but don’t question the staff who work hard for them and the options open to fans for their stand. The racing simulator and driver reactions game were both back – both priced but at prices that wouldn’t leave anyone out of the market. I tried the driver reactions twice during the day and got a high score of 37 and an average in six 30-second stints of 33. I was pretty happy with that and it does get the adrenaline going. Those who don’t fancy a lengthy jog should try this. I must also credit Pirelli for the neat presentation of their display.

There was a lovely collection of cars from the likes of Caterham, Porsche, Ford and Subaru and the Asian manufacturer was also highly prevalent at the Wales Rally GB display. Celebrating its 70^th anniversary in 2014, three classic Impreza models were on show in Birmingham, including the late Colin McRae’s winning car from 1997 and the machinery that took Richard Burns to his WRC title four years later (pictured below). This was during a golden period for rallying which might have a brighter future following this weekend’s announcement that it has been added to the portfolio of events in 2014 to be live on BT Sport. It was another polished display but I for one would have liked to have seen two or three more manufacturers represented on this stand.

Richard Burns' 2001 WRC world championship car was a highlight

Lastly the pick of the exhibition this year was the Dunlop BTCC section. It looked superb, slick and stunning and you were able to get close to the drivers too. A whole host of the BTCC class were there which included a couple of mass signing sessions during the weekend. Those in attendance included defending champion Andrew Jordan, 2012 title winner Gordon Shedden, seasoned campaigners Matt Neal and Jason Plato and the popular Rob Austin. I was lucky enough to get autographs from many of the drivers and had a brief conversation with Neal, telling him I liked the look of the new Honda Civic that he and Shedden will be driving in the upcoming campaign. It was great to see the camaraderie between the drivers and I’m a huge fan of the championship. With F1 becoming more sanitised (especially when you think of the double points decider gimmick in Abu Dhabi), I will even go as far as saying the Touring Cars is my favourite motorsport and the championship I’m looking forward to the most in 2014.

So there you have it, another year and another exhibition at the NEC comes to an end. Autosport International continues to drive the crowds through every year and will be back next year hoping for another special exhibition. Having been to 11 of these now, I would happily admit that I have been to years where I enjoyed it more (2008 and 2012) being standouts but it was an improvement on last year and well worth going.

What will happen in the motorsport season in 2014? Well like Martin Brundle, all bets are off and I won’t be making any predictions. I’m sure though the sport in general will create many more headlines and talking points over the course of this calendar year.

Categories: Autosport International Show, Birmingham, BTCC, Caterham, David Croft, John Surtees, Motorsport, NEC, Pirelli, Subaru