- 4,741
- Bogota,Colombia
- GTP_ARP93
DISCLAIMER: Given how sensitive the topic is, I don't intend to aggravate anyone regardless of his/her favourite racing drivers. I have massive respect for Senna, his results, his persona, his carisma and his uncanny skill when it came to drive fast anything that had four wheels, but I wanted to write a personal tribute about a driver that inspires me much more than Ayrton, with all due respect for him and his fanbase.
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Yes, he's smiling like a doofus. He doesn't care.
Some of you may know him as "the other guy who died in Imola '94", or "that ageing poor fellow who crashed driving for a crappy team". Some may know him as a guy who apparently never achieved anything in F1 besides appearing in every press photo with a goofy smile. But some of you, the minority of you, know the reason of that smile and know that Roland Ratzenberger, born on July 4th 1960, was a guy that fought hard to take every damn step on the ladder leading to F1. Most people don't know his name at all, some of you may only recognize his name and the Simtek he drove, but those of you that know about him would agree: Roland was absolutely inspiring.
Roland was born in Salzburg, to a not-particularly wealthy family. Like most of us, when he was a kid he told his parents he wanted to be a race car driver and heard the traditional answer: "It's too expensive son, sorry". That didn't stop him. Roland did everything he could in his teenage years to be able to afford a seat at the local karting club, including delivering bread in a van. His parents wanted him to go to school, to be someone, but he knew damn well what he wanted: ra-ci-ng. By the time he was 19, Roland was racing in the regional Formula Ford championships, paying for his seat by serving as a mechanic for the series, and won the Austrian and Central European championships. Later on, he got to a point where he didn't have to pay for a seat anymore but was only driving for teams that gave him poor machinery. He bounced between most single-seater series of the time, and ended up in Japan, driving for Toyota in the Sports Prototype Championship. Eventually, he went on to race at Le Mans, hallowed ground, with Toyota, a team with which he came 5th overall and 1st in class in 1993.
The guy went from delivering bread to driving that to the top of the podium at Le Mans. Yes. For real.
A sports agent based in Monaco saw promise in the not-so-young Roland who used to lie about his age to his employers, fearing that being 34 would cost him the chance of a seat in F1. She gathered enough sponsoring money to buy him a seat in the new Simtek team where he would race for 6 races. Roland, as always, hoped that showing dedication and results would make the team consider hiring him fulltime. The results on the first race of 1994 were disastrous, the lardy and dull Simtek wasn't able to qualify for the race. The second race, on Japanese ground was a bit better: Roland was the last driver to finish the race, something impressive for a guy on his second race with a terrible car. The third race, was Imola.
Ratzenberger went off track in one of the closing laps of the qualifying session. He felt himself in a "Make it or break it" situation, should he not qualify that could spell the end for his golden opportunity in F1. He felt the brakes, tyres and suspension were fine so he carried on for a last lap. Unfortunately, the front wing of his car had been damaged and broke completely on a high-speed corner, sending his car barreling towards the wall at more than 300 Km/H. Few hours later, he was pronounced dead. A day later, his funeral took place...and was deserted because everyone went to Senna's.
A hard earned seat in F1. You made it, Roland.
Honestly, today I wasn't aware of all of that I just wrote out of memory. I also remembered him as "the other guy", but having read today some stories and tributes to him, he will always be in front of Senna in my heart. Oh, yes, I said that. Why? Beacause Roland inspires me like only one other driver has: the God of F1; Juan Manuel Fangio.
Fangio was a huge champion both on and off the track. Times change. After the era of Fangio, money and politics took an even more fundamental spot in the sport, making it harder for a Cinderella story like his to happen again. With Roland, we were damn close. Like Roland, I wasn't born in a wealthy family. But unlike me, Roland didn't give up. In his story I see a fighter, a Quixote, a man who wasn't gonna let factors like money stop him on his way to happiness. An idealist. Think of this little text I found in a book made by Skip Barber HPD School: "Anybody can drive a racecar; it just takes practice, like playing a violin. The only problem in this business is that [...] you have to practice like anything else and the unfortunate thing about racecar driving is that it costs a phenomenal amount to go practice". Absolute genius is not something you're born with, it's an understanding of a particular field that comes through extensive practice. Senna had that practice, ever since he was a little kid because his parents gave him everything he could've wanted. Fangio didn't. Fangio worked his way to the top, and at his fourty-something years old he retired F1 with a win ratio slightly under 50%. Roland, unknowingly, followed in Fangio's spirit. When Roland was 17, he bought a VW Käffer with a mate and raced through Salzburg like there was no tomorrow. He didn't change one bit when he was seated in an F1 car.
Roland is, to me, one of the guys that reminds me of the best thing of our sport. It's not about a meaningless trophy, it's not about admiration: It's a matter of passion. Senna made something huge out of something, impressive indeed. But Roland? He made something out of nothing. He's the epitome of "It's not what you drive, it's what drives you". Roland Ratzenberger is today the reason why I'm not giving up on being able to race someday, at whatever level I can.
Here's to you GTP, an inspirational man. A man who shouldn't be forgotten and who diserves a far more dignified memory than just being "the other guy who crashed".
Godspeed Roland. Thanks for the inspiration.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, he's smiling like a doofus. He doesn't care.
Some of you may know him as "the other guy who died in Imola '94", or "that ageing poor fellow who crashed driving for a crappy team". Some may know him as a guy who apparently never achieved anything in F1 besides appearing in every press photo with a goofy smile. But some of you, the minority of you, know the reason of that smile and know that Roland Ratzenberger, born on July 4th 1960, was a guy that fought hard to take every damn step on the ladder leading to F1. Most people don't know his name at all, some of you may only recognize his name and the Simtek he drove, but those of you that know about him would agree: Roland was absolutely inspiring.
Roland was born in Salzburg, to a not-particularly wealthy family. Like most of us, when he was a kid he told his parents he wanted to be a race car driver and heard the traditional answer: "It's too expensive son, sorry". That didn't stop him. Roland did everything he could in his teenage years to be able to afford a seat at the local karting club, including delivering bread in a van. His parents wanted him to go to school, to be someone, but he knew damn well what he wanted: ra-ci-ng. By the time he was 19, Roland was racing in the regional Formula Ford championships, paying for his seat by serving as a mechanic for the series, and won the Austrian and Central European championships. Later on, he got to a point where he didn't have to pay for a seat anymore but was only driving for teams that gave him poor machinery. He bounced between most single-seater series of the time, and ended up in Japan, driving for Toyota in the Sports Prototype Championship. Eventually, he went on to race at Le Mans, hallowed ground, with Toyota, a team with which he came 5th overall and 1st in class in 1993.
The guy went from delivering bread to driving that to the top of the podium at Le Mans. Yes. For real.
Ratzenberger went off track in one of the closing laps of the qualifying session. He felt himself in a "Make it or break it" situation, should he not qualify that could spell the end for his golden opportunity in F1. He felt the brakes, tyres and suspension were fine so he carried on for a last lap. Unfortunately, the front wing of his car had been damaged and broke completely on a high-speed corner, sending his car barreling towards the wall at more than 300 Km/H. Few hours later, he was pronounced dead. A day later, his funeral took place...and was deserted because everyone went to Senna's.
A hard earned seat in F1. You made it, Roland.
Fangio was a huge champion both on and off the track. Times change. After the era of Fangio, money and politics took an even more fundamental spot in the sport, making it harder for a Cinderella story like his to happen again. With Roland, we were damn close. Like Roland, I wasn't born in a wealthy family. But unlike me, Roland didn't give up. In his story I see a fighter, a Quixote, a man who wasn't gonna let factors like money stop him on his way to happiness. An idealist. Think of this little text I found in a book made by Skip Barber HPD School: "Anybody can drive a racecar; it just takes practice, like playing a violin. The only problem in this business is that [...] you have to practice like anything else and the unfortunate thing about racecar driving is that it costs a phenomenal amount to go practice". Absolute genius is not something you're born with, it's an understanding of a particular field that comes through extensive practice. Senna had that practice, ever since he was a little kid because his parents gave him everything he could've wanted. Fangio didn't. Fangio worked his way to the top, and at his fourty-something years old he retired F1 with a win ratio slightly under 50%. Roland, unknowingly, followed in Fangio's spirit. When Roland was 17, he bought a VW Käffer with a mate and raced through Salzburg like there was no tomorrow. He didn't change one bit when he was seated in an F1 car.
Roland is, to me, one of the guys that reminds me of the best thing of our sport. It's not about a meaningless trophy, it's not about admiration: It's a matter of passion. Senna made something huge out of something, impressive indeed. But Roland? He made something out of nothing. He's the epitome of "It's not what you drive, it's what drives you". Roland Ratzenberger is today the reason why I'm not giving up on being able to race someday, at whatever level I can.
Here's to you GTP, an inspirational man. A man who shouldn't be forgotten and who diserves a far more dignified memory than just being "the other guy who crashed".
Godspeed Roland. Thanks for the inspiration.
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