| Roland Ratzenberger |
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A Racing Car driver, Ratzenberger first came to prominence in 1986 , winning the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch . This led to campaigns in the European Formula 3 and touring car championships. He briefly gained fame in the UK for the similarity of his name to that of British TV puppet Roland Rat , appearing alongside him on an edition of TV-am . Later he forged a successful career in the Japan ese Formula 3000 series. He was plucked from Japan as a surprise choice by Nick Wirth 's new Simtek team to drive in the 1994 Formula One Season . After failing to qualify for the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos , Ratzenberger made his only F1 Grand Prix start two weeks later at the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix at the TI Circuit in Aida , Japan. He was killed in qualifying for the third race of the Season at the ill-fated Imola circuit, ploughing into a wall at the Villeneuve corner at over 300 Km/h after a front wing failure, apparently caused by an off-track excursion on the previous lap. A time he had achieved earlier in the session would have been sufficient to give him a place on the grid. The force of the head-on impact was enough to break his neck. Ratzenberger was the first driver to perish at a Grand Prix in the twelve years following the 1982 deaths of Riccardo Paletti and Gilles Villeneuve . FORMULA ONE GRANDS PRIX EXTERNAL LINKS
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