Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994 TAG: 9405030091
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOLOGNA, ITALY LENGTH: Medium
"He was the greatest, the best. An epoch in Formula One has ended with his death," said Alberto Pungetti, a Senna fan in a region where auto racing has a passionate following.
The 34-year-old Senna, a three-time Formula One champion, died Sunday of severe head injuries sustained while crashing his Williams Renault into a concrete wall during the San Marino Grand Prix at nearby Imola.
The Italian press was especially critical of FIA (the International Auto Racing Federation).
"They have killed Senna," read the front-page headline of Rome's sports daily Corriere dello Sport, one of several Italian newspapers that printed special editions Monday.
"Stop the massacre," wrote Bologna daily Il Resto Del Carlino.
"Slaughter at Imola," was the verdict of Milan's daily La Notte.
"Safety must be improved," said German Michael Schumacher, who won the race.
In London, a spokesman for FIA defended the new rules and the safety of the notoriously fast Imola track.
"The engineers - the people who design and construct the cars - they believe that the new rules are safer," Martin Whitaker said.
He added that the Imola track had passed "very strict safety tests" last week, and "as far as we are concerned, it is a safe circuit."
Whitaker said the "black box" - a computerized data-logging system similar to that used in airplanes - from Senna's car would be flown to London later this week. FIA hopes the box will help it determine the cause of the accident.
Senna, also a three-time winner of the race, failed to make the Tamburello turn on the seventh lap and hit the barrier at nearly 170 mph. During qualifying the previous day, Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger died in a similar accident at another spot on the track.
The deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger - along with major accidents this year involving Rubens Barrichello, J.J. Lehto and Jean Alesi - have renewed the debate over new rules introduced this year.
Senna was among many critics unhappy with FIA's decision to eliminate electronic drivers' aids, particularly the phasing out of computerized "active suspension." On the eve of the ill-fated race, Senna voiced concerns about his car's stability on the track.
But FIA continued to insist that the changes in the cars were in the best interests of safety.
"It's a drivers' championship," Whitaker said. "The control of the driver was being superseded by the computer and the electronics that was being placed in those cars."
The mourners caused traffic jams as they gathered in front of the Istituto Di Medicina Legale of Bologna, where Senna's body was taken after he was pronounced dead at the city's Maggiore hospital.
Police prevented fans from entering the morgue but allowed them to lay the flowers on a stretcher which was quickly filled. At Imola, flowers were placed on the track at the Tamburello turn.
In Brazil, where Senna's popularity was comparable only to that of former soccer star Pele, President Itamar Franco declared three days of mourning.
Senna won 41 Formula One races - second only to the 51 of Alain Prost - and his 65 poles was a circuit record. His championships came in 1988, 1990 and 1991.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB