The promoters of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix will put on a series of events at this year’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to mark the 30th anniversary of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the Imola circuit.
The two drivers died in separate crashes during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Ratzenberger was killed when his car struck a barrier at the high-speed, right-hand Villeneuve corner during qualifying. The following day, Senna crashed and died at the Tamburello curve on the sixth lap of the grand prix. Both corners were subsequently altered.The Automobile Club d’Italia announced a series of initiatives will be held at this year’s grand prix to mark the deaths of both drivers. F1 will return to the track it last raced at in 2022, having cancelled last year’s race due to severe flooding in the area.
“As a region we strongly wanted the return of Formula 1 to Imola, a central event in the very rich calendar of sporting events in Emilia-Romagna,” said Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia-Romagna region.
The 10th anniversary of the deaths was marked during the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix weekend by Gerhard Berger, compatriot of Ratzenberger and former team mate of Senna, who drove one of the three-times champion’s former Lotus cars around the circuit. A Senna memorial stands near the scene of his crash at the circuit.
Imola has also added five new grandstands for this year’s race, increasing capacity by 17,000.
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix: The crash seen around the world
- 1994 San Marino Grand Prix: How Ratzenberger’s death stunned F1
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Pictures: Berger’s 2004 demonstration run for Senna and Ratzenberger
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SteveP
12th February 2024, 18:09
So glad that people remembered to remember Ratzenberger.
Most of the time it’s all about Senna, and while he was a great loss to the sport, the reports so often talk about him to the exclusion of Ratzenberger
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
13th February 2024, 22:54
For the love of god, please be tasteful about it? i’m still cringing from the 2020 trophies