Saturday 30th October 2021

BOOK REVIEW  By Ken Davies 

FATAL WEEKEND 

Fatal Weekend tells how those four unhappy days - 30th April to 1st May 1994 - unfolded from several perspectives, and Tom Rubython’s hard-hitting and painstakingly researched book leaves no stone unturned, rationalising how Senna’s death was a combination of several issues which conspired together on that fateful spring afternoon, resulting in the death of arguably the world’s finest F1 driver. The accident was not simply a result of the broken steering column which at first appeared the most obvious cause.

But that ill-fated weekend at Imola also saw the death of Roland Ratzenberger, paradoxically one of the least successful F1 drivers, in an accident like Senna’s high-speed crash at almost 200mph. The Austrian’s Simtek-Ford was run by the small, newly formed F1 team and the integrity of its construction and efficiency of the governing body’s chassis crash-testing process is questioned. Amazingly, this San Marino Grand Prix weekend, which sent shockwaves through international motor racing, also witnessed Rubens Barrichello miraculously escape a similar accident with only minor injuries, when his Jordan 194-Hart became airborne off a high kerb and smashed into a debris fence at around 140mph.

Among factors interposing and unsettling Senna that ominous weekend was disappointment with his new Williams team. Although their indifference to its drivers was well-known, the contrast with his former team at McLaren surprised Senna in only his third appearance with the Oxfordshire team. So much so, he’d met Ferrari principal Luca Montezemolo earlier that weekend and tacitly agreed to join the Italian team for 1995, after breaking free from his Williams contract. From his first experience, Senna was very uncomfortable with the handling of his Williams FW16-Renault, a passive version of the 1993 championship-winning FW15C, but devoid of the crucial electronic driver aids in line with new FIA regulations.

Close rival Michael Schumacher’s Benetton B194 was suspected of running illegal launch control, a view shared by many within F1 although the FIA was unable to prove this was being used. Senna had failed to finish the first two 1994 grand prix and was forced to drive over his safe limit to have any chance of success against Benetton’s unfair advantage. Another factor was Adriane Galiseu, the 20-year-old Brazilian model Senna had met and fallen in love with 12 months earlier, a liaison of which his family unfathomably disapproved, leading to acrimonious dialog with his brother Leonardo that very weekend.

The book tells how some respected F1 protagonists did themselves no credit by the way they behaved at Imola and also some key evidence which mysteriously disappeared without trace. Fatal Weekend is a fascinating book arranged in logical bite-sized chapters that readers can randomly dip into or read sequentially. Author Rubython is an accomplished investigative journalist with a successful history publishing business journals, as well as eight books, including The Life of Ayrton Senna - a best-seller with 250,000 copies already sold globally and continuing sales of 12,000 annually. The author also produces the unmissable monthly magazine BusinessF1, reporting some of the more dubious activities within international motor sport with no attempt to sugar the pill or ingratiate himself to the guilty.

Although published in 2015, I received my copy of Fatal Weekend only recently after subscribing to BusinessF1. I read it cover to cover in just four days and there’s already a long list of future borrowers. Published by The Myrtle Press and priced at £20, the hardback contains several great images, some previously unseen and there are candid accounts from almost everyone involved, including Senna’s teammate Damon Hill. I would recommend this book as essential reading for any fan of F1.

FATAL WEEKEND
Written by Tom Rubython
Hardback ISBN 978-0-9934731-0-4
Softback ISBN: 978-0-9570605-93
Published by The Myrtle Press
Price £20.00