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 12th,
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 11th.
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 10th in Barcelona. 11th in Hungary and 12th
in Japan and he started to occasionally outqualify the Lotus and Larrousse cars
as the season progressed. When he started a fantastic 21st 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 14th
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.
