This article is copied without permission from the Motoring News 5/5/94.


Roland Ratzenberger typified the spirit that takes men to the highest
echelon of motorsport.

He was born in Salzburg in 1962 and began to establish his unusual
name in the cut and thrust of Formula Ford 21 years later.  By 1985, 
he had won the Austrian, German and European Championships, and upon
his arrival in Britain, he already seemed a familiar character thanks
to the screen antics of TV-AM's Roland Rat [a TV puppet].  Indeed, when 
I first heard of him, we thought he was a humourist cashing in on the 
name.  Whenever we pulled his leg about it he would simply laugh and
take it all in good stead.  Typically resourceful, Roland actually
cajoled some sponsorship on the strength of the 'link' !

Back in 1987, when he graduated to F3 with Dick Bennetts and West Surrey
Racing, my [David Tremayne] then three year-old son immediately insisted 
with a child's innocence, on dubbing him Roland Ratzenberger-and-chips-and-
beans to his face.  Roland thought it was hysterical and quickly became a
small boy's hero.  He was that sort of man, gentle, always unfailingly 
polite, tall, good-looking and with a ready smile.  He would always far
rather look for the best in people, offering his opinion in that slow,
sing-song voice of his.

His dedication took him to victory in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival
at Brands Hatch in 1986, and after his two seasons in Formula Three, he 
faced the familiar dilemma of what to do next.  He opted for Japan, first
in saloon cars but later in Formula 3000 and sportscars.  In 1990 he 
triumphed in the Fuji 1000kms race, and then he followed with victory
at the Suzuka 1000kms in 1991, with third place in the Daytona 24 Hours
classic a year later.

All the time, however, his sights were set on Formula One.  In 1991 he
tested IndyCar champion Michael Andretti's Lola and lapped within a
tenth of a second of the American star.  Plans to move into Formula One
with Eddie Jordan's emergent team went awry at the last minute when his
sponsor pulled out.  Undeterred, he went back to Japan and continued
his impressive progress in Formula 3000 before suddenly becoming a contender
for the drive this year with Simtek that eventually took him to Imola.

When I [David Tremayne] walked into the Imola paddock on Thursday afternoon
a hand grabbed my arm and I heard a friendly greeting.  As we talked about
his GP debut at TI Circuit Aida his eyes sparkled, but he was hard on himself
and said he thought that he should have done better that 11th place.  He 
would always rather have run that walked.  I'm glad now that we had that
final chance to talk.

"Roland had an infectious sense of humour and was a racer who worked for
everything that he achieved in motor racing, right from the time that he
was his own mechanic in Formula Ford,"  said Johnny Herbert, who like so
many other drivers had formed a strong friendship with him during their
racing days in Japan.  Representatives of the Simtek team paid their own
tribute.  "With many sacrifices on the way Roland worked his way up to
Formula One.  He was a true all-rounder whose brave driving style and
delightful character will be sadly missed throughout the world."

It was impossible not to feel a great affection for an instantly friendly
man who possessed genuine charm and dignity.  I never saw him angry, nor
ever heard him bad mouth another driver.  Roland Ratzenberger was at the
threshold of achieving his lifelong dream, and was proud to describe his
most memorable experience as his first test in a F1 car, at Imola earlier
this year.  As we think of him, and offer condolences to his family, the
shattered Simtek personnel and his many, many, friends, we say farewell
to that rarest of F1 characters: a hard racer who nevertheless had not a
single enemy within the Grand Prix paddock.


-- 
Andrew Henry           | Read the rec.autos.sport List of Frequently
A.H.Henry@bath.ac.uk   | Asked Questions v0.1 available by anonymous
University of Bath, UK | ftp at mgu.bath.ac.uk      _/Sempre  Gilles