FILE – A scarf has been placed on a statue of Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna ahead of Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Dino and Enzo Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. The 30th anniversary of Ayrton Sennas death is commemorated on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, with a memorial on the Imola track where he crashed during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
IMOLA – The 30th anniversary of three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna’s death is being commemorated with a memorial on the Imola track where he crashed during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali is to be joined Wednesday by politicians from Brazil and Italy, plus a representative from Austria to also recall fellow Formula One driver Roland Ratzenberger, who died a day earlier during qualifying.
At 2:17 p.m. (1217 GMT), a minute of silence will be held and flowers laid down at the Tamburello curve to observe the exact time and place that the 34-year-old Senna crashed into a concrete wall at about 300 kph (185 mph).
Then flowers will also be laid down at the Villeneuve corner only slightly further down the track where the 33-year-old Ratzenberger crashed. Ratzenberger’s father is among the announced attendees.
Senna, the Brazilian driver who won F1 titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991, was leading the race in Imola when he crashed.
Ratzenberger was an F1 rookie from Austria.
The attention around Senna’s death brought about safety improvements at the Imola track and throughout F1, resulting in shorter straights, more room around dangerous turns and less powerful engines.
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