Remember 01 May 1994 ?

[jackson1]

Imola GP.

Roland Ratzenberger killed in qualifying RIP
Rubens Barrichello nearly killed in qualifying.
Ayrton Senna killed in the race. RIP

The darkest GP weekend in my lifetime.

[St.James]

What is GP and what were they qualifying for? Grand Prix?

[Hellraiser6502]

Imola '94

Yes it was terrible.

Imola Italy 1994 & the insanely fast Tamburello corner.

I taped it on VHS and it is still hard to watch...footage of the driver's getting together for a meeting after Ratzenberger was killed...and the strange look on Senna's face walking out of the building after the meeting.

Then the tragic accident and the overhead camera view of Senna twitching in the car for what seemed like minutes before anyone got to him.

Unbelievable weekend when you look back on it.

Very sad day for racing fans.

[Deneb]

Not big into racing, but it sucks ass when anyone is killed doing anything like that.

[mm2002]

May 1st 1994 I turned 31. I thought my life was over. Man, sometimes life is funny. RIP Roland and Ayrton.

[semagic]

two dark racing days for me ....

October 31, 1999. Greg Moore (loses life @ Fontana Speedway)
September 15, 2001 Alex Zanardi (loses legs from accident @ Laustizring
Eurospeedway)

RIP Senna

[Drsracing]

Rip

[jackson1]

dk2magic,

ugh, the Greg Moore accident... man, i've tried to forget that scene... i never can. Terrible.

And i can't forget the circumstances for that accident either:

Greg Moore, with a broken thumb, takes a couple of test runs on the race track to convince the race jury that he's okay and capable of racing the next day.

The jury agrees to let him race....

[zeegler]

They are doing some major renovations to Imola before next year's race. Hopefully they are going to widen the track. Imola is always ridiculously boring because the track is so narrow, there is NO passing at all.

The Greg Moore thing tore me up. I was a huge fan, and the crash was so violent.

Another one that stands out for me is May 8, 1982. Destined to become one of the greats, Gilles Villenueve died during qualifying for the Belgian GP at Zolder.

[pebber]

Another one that stands out for me is May 8, 1982. Destined to become one of the greats, Gilles Villenueve died during qualifying for the Belgian GP at Zolder.

That's something we don't forget over here in Belgium, awfull accident.. there's still a part of the circuit named in honor of him!

[pebber]

now that I come to think about it, Alex Zanardi also had a big crash here in Belgium at Francochamps (Eau Rouge corner) in 1993, ending his season and the beginning of the next season..

[semagic]

dk2magic,

ugh, the Greg Moore accident... man, i've tried to forget that scene... i never can. Terrible.

And i can't forget the circumstances for that accident either:

Greg Moore, with a broken thumb, takes a couple of test runs on the race track to convince the race jury that he's okay and capable of racing the next day.

The jury agrees to let him race....

IMO those were the final blows that put CART under hopefully Tony George and Kevin Kalkhoven can annouce the merge between Champcar and the IRL soon. that could be a bright spot for american open wheel racing.

[jackson1]

So Champcar and Indy are to be joined? How soon and how many teams will be allowed to race? That's gotta leave some drivers out in the cold.

[semagic]

So Champcar and Indy are to be joined? How soon and how many teams will be allowed to race? That's gotta leave some drivers out in the cold.

Rumor has it... On carb day they will announce it officially. the only real question is when will it happen they are trying to get it done for 2007. Depends on who you ask whether its 2007 or 2008, both (TG and KK) have confirmed they want it to happen just ironing out the details takes time. My understanding is they have Honda/Ford Turbo-charged engines, panoz chassis, Bridgestone/Firestone tires. ABC/ESPN will have the television rights. The schedule will have 22-24 races with a few fri/sat. night races. The name of the series hasn't been disclosed. Many of the races will have ALMS racing as well as rock concerts on the same weekend. I hope it happens... it needs to happen.

[jackson1]

Thanks so much for the info.
So, Panoz chassis eh.. money has brought that guy a long way. No GoodYear tires, that's odd or maybe they have enough display at NASCAR.

I wish i could watch the american open wheel racing again on some free european channel, but that ain't gonna happen, i'm afraid.

What is and when are "carb" day?