The tragic story of Icola, the circuit where Colapinto will run: the death of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger

The Argentine pilot Franco Colapint will run again in the Formula 1 he May 18when the Emilia-Romaña Grand Prix In the Enzo E Dino Ferrari Autodrome, where one of the saddest episodes was given in the history of sport.

Collapint He was consulted several times about his idols and the answer was always the same: the Brazilian Ayrton Senna and the Argentine Juan Manuel Fangiowho were champions of Formula 1 on three and five occasions, respectively. Out of motoring, the now titular pilot of Alpine He could never hide his idolatry for Juan Román Riquelmeof his beloved “mouth”, and for the Rosario star Lionel Messi.

The return of Collapint to the Formula 1 It will be in him Emilia-Romaña GPwhere one of the darkest weekends was lived in the history of sport, directly related to Senna, One of his idols.

For this you have to go back 31 years in time. More specifically at the weekend of April 29 and 30 and May 1, when the San Marino GP 1994.

It all started in the worst way on April 30, when during the classification the Austrian pilot Roland Ratzenbergerof the team Simtek, could not bend in the Villeneuve curve And his car practically collided against a concrete barrier, causing his death instantly as a result of a fracture at the base of the skull.

Sunday was no exception, since during the start a tremendous clash was in which parts of monoplays, tires and even nine spectators with minor wounds flew.

Two laps after the security car was removed, Senna, that champion had been consecrated in the seasons of 1988, 1990 and 1991he left the track in the Tamburello curve When I was going to 305 kilometers per hour and brutally hit a cement wall.

This tremendous shock generated that the right front wheel detached and hit its helmet, while an arm of the suspension crossed the case and visor, which caused fractures in the skull and loss of brain mass.

Could the death of Senna have been avoided?

After the crash in the start, the FIA He decided to leave the security car. This did not like it at all Senna, that accused that car of going too slow, which generated the tires cooled.

There are even images in which the world’s tricampeone is seen making gestures to the security car to increase speed.

Besides, Frank Williams (director of the Williams team), Patrick Head (Technical Director) and Adrian Newey (car’s designer) were judged by involuntary homicide after being accused of modifying the car of Senna, which could have generated a fatigue of the materials.

All of them were acquitted due to lack of evidence, although 2007 the Supreme Court of Italy found as guilty Head, although it was acquitted because the crime had prescribed.

After that tragic weekend, important modifications were made in the Enzo E Dino Ferrari Autodrome. The main ones were the conversion of the Villeneuve and Tamburello curves, which became slow chicanas.