Roland Ratzenberger

The name Roland Ratzenberger will forever be linked to one of Formula One`s greatest names: Ayrton Senna. The tragic events of one of the darkest weekends in motorsport history in Imola 1994 culminated in the deaths of these two men. In contrary to Sennas`, Ratzenbergers career did by far not follow a straight line and was shaped by a lack of financial means. His determination to reach the pinnacle of motorsport though was the same as Sennas – everything outside of motorsport was succumbed to his will to get into F1. Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1960, he started his motorsport career in the German Formula Ford championship in 1983 before winning Austrian and Europaen championships in 1985. People took notice of his name at the end of 1985, when he came second in the highly rated Formula Ford Festival in Brands Hatch. By beating names like E. Irvine and J. J. Lehto he won the Festival in 1986 before he moved on to British F3 for the following year. He was not able to make much of an impact there, so he also accepted touring car drives before making his way to British F3000 in 1989, finishing third overall. He also competed in Le Mans for several years with a best finish of fifth in 1993 for Toyota. His career being stuck in Europe, he moved to Japan to try his luck in touring- and sports cars as well as the Japanese F3 championship. His chance to enter F1 came at the end of 1993 when his good connections to the British racing scene led to a contract for five Grand Prix with the newly formed Simtek team. As the car was by far not race ready for the first race in Brasil, he was not able to qualify for the GP. He managed to get into the field for race number two in Aida Japan, where he also finished in 11 th position. The San Marino GP should be the next step to establish himself as a GP driver, though it was not meant to be: the car crashed due to technical failure during qualifying in the ultra-high speed approach to Tosa corner where he died instantly because of a basilar skull fracture. Today, the grandstand in Tosa carries his name and the organisers in Imola are doing a very good job in keeping his memory alive whenever they can, for example by inviting family members for anniversary celebrations - like this year for “AyrtonDay” on May 1 st , when 25 years has gone by since the tragic happenings of 1994. During the last years, German movie make Peter Levay was working extensively on a documentary about Rolands life and I was able to talk to him about his project. Here is what he had to say! „Roland Ratzenberger, der lange Weg zum kurzen Glück“ - a movie by Peter Levay TSS: How was the idea to this movie born, and how did you get in contact with the Ratzenberger family? PL: I attended the ceremonies for the 20th anniversary of this tragic weekend in Imola in May 1st 2014. I had a press accreditation and wanted to film all the events this weekend. I was there amongst the crowd of 25,000 people at Tamburello corner where a minute of silence was held for Ayrton and Roland. Gerhard Berger was also attending and I was trying to get a short interview with him. Though after greeting Rudolf Ratzenberger, Rolands father, he disappeared in the safety car. I changed my plan and introduced myself with Rudolf - this is how I got to know Rolands parents. They were interested in what I am doing and a friendship developed. They asked me to do a private documentary about Rolands life – not for publication, just as a memory of their son for them. We digged the family archives together and so this small 60 min. film was completed 3 ½ years ago. It whetted my appetite and other journalists and photographers encouraged me to start a bigger project - this is how all began and now the movie is finally finished in time for the 25 years celebrations. TSS: Have you been a race-fan since childhood or how did your interest in the sport started? PL: I live near the Norisring in Nürnberg, so I have seen races there from the mid- nineties onwards. I was there basically as a fan, not because of my profession. TSS: For this big movie, you had the chance to talk to many people who followed and accompanied Rolands career. Who helped you to find them and get in contact with them? PL: Apart from the family Ratzenberger, two austrian journalists were very helpful. This is how I managed to get interviews with Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger, Karl Wendlinger, members of the Simtek team and many others. We even found Rolands team mates in japan who could contribute interesting stories. Burkhard Hummel, Rolands manager back then, introduced me to people in England – Roland was very popular there and people still remember him with fondness and appreciation. Burkhard was also responsible that Roland got the drive with Simtek in the winter of 1993 / 94. TSS: What was the most fascinating aspect for you of Roland as a racing driver? PL: He never gave up his dream of becoming a Formual One driver. He did not have any finacial support from his family and had to work his way up to the top without the help of a rich father like it is usual nowadays. His career did not follow a straight line, he always had to look for this alternative way to step up the ladder like going from austria and germany to England to do F3 there, then to Japan to try Sports cars. He ultimately achieved his goal against all odds, but sadly he was not able to enjoy it for long. TSS: Which aim did you have when you began work on this movie? PL: Basically I wanted to do a documentary about his life and career. I was trying to describe what kind of person he was. I never intended to do an investigative research about the accident and the circumstances which led to his death or to find out, who was guilty. TSS: How will race fans be able to watch the movie? PL: The movie will be available on amazon prime video from april 30th on.

I never intended to do an investigative research about the accident and the circumstances which led to his death