Sao Paulo, May 02: Family members and fans marked on Saturday (May 1) the 10th anniversary of the death of Brazilian motor racing legend Ayrton Senna who died on this date in 1994 at the wheel of his Williams car during the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy. Senna's family members and fans gathered at his tomb in Sao Paulo where they marked the anniversary of his death, followed by a church service. Senna's death was mourned throughout the motor racing world and especially in his native Brazil where he was a sporting superstar. The death Senna, three times world Formula One champion, coincides with the tenth anniversary of the death of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger who died at the same meeting which was his first Formula One season.

Ratzenberger died first during practice for the race. His death affected Senna, who was driving for the Williams Formula One team, profoundly.


Friends including Austrian driver Gerhard Berger remember Senna as being agitated by the death of the young Austrian.


On race day Senna's car speared across the track at the fast Tamburello corner and hit the wall. The front suspension snapped and the wheel folded up against the cockpit surround, punching a suspension component into Senna's helmet, fatally injuring him.


The effect of his death devastated Brazil and brought the country to a standstill -- both on learning of his death and during his state funeral.


Senna's death also halted Formula One in its tracks. Safety measures were instituted immediately with cockpit surrounds being raised so that the drivers were adequately shielded. Corners at tracks were modified and run-off areas were extended.


The cause of Senna's accident remains open to conjecture and an Italian court last month decided to reopen a manslaughter case.


Team boss Frank Williams, technical director Patrick Head and former designer Adrian Newey, now with McLaren, will face a new hearing after being cleared of manslaughter charges at a trial in Bologna in 1997.

Bureau Report