The Death of Ayrton SennaOften an event can happen in people's lives that is remembered forever as one of the most important. Whether it is a family story or something that has absolutely nothing to do with the person, the event is deeply engraved in the individual's mind and will always remain with him or her. This happened when I was twelve. I have been a car racing enthusiast since the age of nine and since I started to approach the world of the Formula 1 World Championship, one driver started to capture my attention more and more. His name was Ayrton Senna, from Brazil. A three-time world champion, who I saw in 1994, after two seasons of driving for the same mediocre team (still managing to win a few races), ready to win his fourth title, driving for the best team in the sport, Williams -Renault. Even after the crash in the first two races of the season, everyone, including me, saw him as the main contender. Then came the third race of the season, in a small town in San Marino, in the small town of Imola… The racing weekend began on April 29, 1994 on a very bitter note. During free practice, the Jordan of new Formula 1 star Rubens Barrichello crashed at speeds close to 150 miles per hour, crashing headlong into a wall of tires. The driver became unconscious and was taken to hospital, where Senna, his compatriot, was the first person Rubens saw when he came to his senses. The next day, during the qualifying session, promising Austrian pilot Roland Ratzenberger was killed when a wing of his Simtek broke off at a speed of around 170 miles per hour. The car then hit a concrete wall, Roland suffered extensive head damage. He died instantly, forcing Senna to tell his friend and rival, Frenchman Alain Prost, that if he could avoid racing the next day, he would. However, unable to do much on his own, Senna won pole position and started first in Sunday's race. Sunday's race also started tragically. A young Portuguese driver, Pedro Lamy, did not see the stalled Benetton of Finn Yurki Yarvi Lehto, who slammed his Lotus into Lehto's car at high speed. Debris flew all over the spectator stands, injuring five people. One of them was injured so badly that he fell into a coma.