I had just got out of my car and was setting up my bike at the foot of Mastiles Lane in the North Yorkshire Dales. A radio report said he was injured but it wasn’t serious.

By the time I had completed the ride, some 2 or 3 hours later, he was dead.

30 years ago?

You are Michael J Fox and I claim the keys to your DeLorean.

30? I think it was less than that! I was in the phonebox calling mrshora outside my flat after I’d comeback from seeing her. She broke the news to me that he was confirmed dead 🙁

Today was NOT thirty years ago!!
Was it?

Oh and I was watching the race on telly.

1994

15 🙂 I’m sure that’s a deliberate slip (unless I’m older than I think I am)

🙄

Oops – 15 years ago – were musing in the office about Buggles ‘Radio Star’ being 30 years old too and mis-typed!

Yes – 15 years ago.

Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

What are you all talking about? I didn’t say it was 30 years ago. Or did I just jump in my DeLorean again and update the post? 😉

watching the telly and wondering who roland ratzenburger was

My Google calendar doesn’t go back that far.

Watching the race on telly, whilst stripping the paint off the woodwork after having a couple of lunchtime sherberts. Not a good combination!!

Roland Ratzenburger- That was very sad. Hence the introduction of the higher side pods to protect the head/neck following his death. He broke his neck didnt he? (sideways forces)

watching the race with my cousin. the ironic thing was she walked out saying it was boring and just as she left the room it happened.

I was walking to my friend’s house. His name was David Armstrong. I remember him opening the door and saying “Aryton Senna’s just been in a massive crash”

I remember we’d been out that day. Me and my Dad sat down to watch the highlights that evening only to see a very sad Murry Walker with the news he’d died.

Gutted about Roland R and wondering what else would happen. Was watching the race and it looked bad for Senna.

My then missus was working for a publishing company out of Malvern, she phoned me up to find out how bad it was, deflected attention from the fact that she was screwing her boss. All in all a crap weekend.

Funny but it seems longer ago than that. Oh and she is no longer my missus.

Watching the race in horror at my parents home while mum cooked roast beef.

Was a very sad weekend for F1 fans 🙁

watching the race with my cousin. the ironic thing was she walked out saying it was boring and just as she left the room it happened.

Who is now your wife and you both live in Todmorden? 8) 😆

Was watching the race and kept expecting to see him at least waving from the stretcher.

And a few years before that I remember walking out from my Saturday job to get picked up by my brother who just said – “Villeneuve’s dead”.

I think Senna is the last F1 driver to have died in a crash. One record of his that I hope nobody breaks.

watching the race on telly. I remember my dad saying about 5 minutes earlier.

“These new rules will have someone killed, mark my words”

Theres been a few close calls though. Mika in his early F1 career (fractured skull?) and another driver later on in Monza?

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns00359.html

I’m amazed that Mika didnt lose his hunger/desire to win beyond this. I remember it being alot worse than the above online that I found.

Who was it at Monza? It was a serious- It wasnt Schu was it?!

Trying to take it all in lying on the floor with the a huge hangover from a very heavy session in the Trent / WHQ in Newcastle.

I was 13 then and watching it on our new (2nd hand) Sony TV, got it set up just in time for the race.

Remember that weekend vividly…the whole race weekend was full of terrible incidents not just the 2 terrible deaths. Barrichello had a high speed impact in practice/quali after launching into the tyre wall (narrowly avoided flying over it altogether), and a wayward tyre was sent flying into the crowd at the race start after someone went into the back of a stalled car on the grid…I think I mechanic got run over and hurt in the pit lane as well during the race. Tragic weekend from the start. 🙁

Roland Ratzenburger- That was very sad. Hence the introduction of the higher side pods to protect the head/neck following his death. He broke his neck didnt he? (sideways forces)

Very sad – the head on impact force detached the spinal cord from the skull (forward movement) hence the into of the HANS device.

Only GP I’d not watched for a long time but after the death of Raztenberger I decided to go out for the GP. Got back to my uni halls and my friends told me Senna had died.

I was watching the race on Eurosport & it was far too graphic for my stomach so I went & sat in the garden with a drink, saddened at what was obviously going to be a fatal crash

i was playing cricket for Kirkham and Wesham (home game) one of the guys mentioned Senna had died and no-one believed him. Sunny afternoon as I recall

Barrichello had a high speed impact

and only survived by the quick intervention by the medical teams – having been knocked unconcious in the impact, and swallowed his tounge.

I was watching the race. I remember thinking that he wasn’t going to be ok after the impact. We were having a barbeque in the garden and I remember going in to check on teletext/news to see his condition. Can’t believe its 15 years ago.

I can still remember the shock of seeing the news, similar to when I heard of the death of Elio de Angelis when testing his Brabham BT55 and the deaths Henry Toivonen/Sergio Cresto and David Metcalfe in other accidents.

The most shocking one that I can remember was the death of Ricardo Paletti in 1981? when his car caught fire.

Motorsport is very dangerous, which is obviously part of the appeal.

I was watching some racing driver crash flatout into a barrier and clearly die instantly or was that someone else?

i was in sunny bosnia iirc dont time fly

I have no idea what I was doing, tbh. Not a particularly memorable news story as far as I’m concerned.

Had just got back from a ride in Epping Forest and unloading the bikes at my mate’s flat in Camden when someone told us Senna had died.

I was rebuilding the engine for my willys Jeep.

But wasn’t AS accident in the practice/Qualifing and not the race?

I was watching some racing driver crash flatout into a barrier and clearly die instantly or was that someone else?

If that refers to the OP – as I said, I heard a radio report – that report suggested it wasn’t serious. They were clearly wrong.

But wasn’t AS accident in the practice/Qualifing and not the race?

No, it was in the race, after a re-start from behind the safety car.

the head on impact force detached the spinal cord from the skull (forward movement) hence the intro of the HANS device.

HANS not mandatory until 2003, nearly ten years later.

If that refers to the OP – as I said, I heard a radio report – that report suggested it wasn’t serious. They were clearly wrong.

Yeah miles wrong it was evident within seconds but radio doesn’t get the impression over the same as live TV.

the head on impact force detached the spinal cord from the skull (forward movement) hence the intro of the HANS device.

And doubt it would stop a suspension strut going through a skull either.

Packing to go on a Duke of Edin exhibition and keeping an eye on the race.

A grim weekend, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really been so bothered about F1 since then.