F1: The Forgotten and Unsung Hero - Roland Ratzenberger

Roland Ratzenberger

Whenever the word ‘tragedy‘ is associated with F1, the only thing that fans remember is the death of Ayrton Senna. An extraordinarily talented driver during his heydays, Senna was all set to take the sport by storm when his premature death resulting from an on-track accident crippled all such dreams and brought to an end the life of arguably the greatest driver in F1. Yet, not many know or remember that 24 hours before Senna died, there was also another accident in the 1994 qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix which saw Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger killed. The impact of the collision was so huge that the accident fractured the base of Ratzenberger’s skull, thus sending ripples through the F1 fraternity after the Austrian became the first major casualty in the sport after the death of Ricardo Palleti in 1982. What was even more saddening was that the race was only Ratzenberger’s third race of his F1 career, a career which blossomed late at the age of 34, thus making his death a story even more tragic than the death of Senna.

Born on the 4th of July 1960 in a little known town of Salzburg in Austria,Ratzenberger started his racing career in German Formula Ford in 1983. Although a late starter in moto-racing, he had a fairly successful run in Formula Ford notching up victories in Austrian and Central European Championships. Thereafter he entered the famous Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch where he was the runner-up & winner in his first two attempts. This was enough to push Ratzenberger through to the ranks of British Formula 3. At Formula 3, he had a disappointing run, finishing both times 12th in ’87 & ’88 seasons. He then shifted his focus to British Formula 3000 in 1989 where he finished 3rd overall on points.While in the UK, Ratzenberger gained popularity due to his name being similar to the TV puppet show “Roland Rat” in which he even made some guest appearances.

By 1990 Ratzenberger began to find his feet into the career of motorsport racing once again. During that period he relocated his career interest to Japan where he competed in Japanese Sports Prototype Championship driving Toyota 93 c-v. He then joined Formula Nippon hoping that his exploits on the eastern front would catch the eye of F1 bosses.

His efforts finally bore fruit when at the age of 34 ,he was signed by Simtec racing to compete in 1994 F1 season. The very first outing at Interlagos turned into a dissapointing note as Ratzenberger failed to qualify courtesy to mechanical problems. As F1 moved to Aida for second race of the season, Ratzenberger blossomed in conditions with which he had familiarized himself during his days in Japanese Circuit. Being last in the qualifying session, he finished the ventual race at respectable 11th position. By the time of San Marino Grand Prix, he began to find his touch.

The fatal crash that killed Ratzenberger

On the fateful day of 30th of April 1994, during the qualifying session,his front wing of Simtec car was damaged as he went off the track.With little time left for the qualifying session to end & being in position of losing the 25th spot,Ratzenberger decided to stay on the track instead of pitting for an inspection.In the very next lap aerodynamic pressure got the better off his already broken front wing, sending the car headlong into the wall at Villeneuve corner at rate of nearly 300km/hr. Ratzenberger’s neck was broken on the impact and he succumbed to his injuries en route to the hospital.

The Austrian’s death sent shock-waves through the F1 community and the magnitude of the shock was intensified once Ayrton Senna was killed in the race the next day. A forgotten hero whose death is barely remembered by anyone, Ratzenberger was one of the casualties whose life was the price for making F1 a safe and successful sport.