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This year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix falls on May 19, just over two weeks after the anniversary of the dreadful May 1 event in 1994.
Ratzenberger lost his life when his Simtek crashed at Curva Villeneuve after the front wing became trapped under the monocoque during qualifying.
A day later, three-time world champion Senna was killed when his car left the road at Tamburello while leading the race.
It was a weekend that sent shockwaves through the sport and instigated renewed efforts to improve safety.
That included head protection for the drivers, improved barriers, and a reprofiling of the Imola circuit to add chicanes at the corners where the two drivers were killed.
Three decades on, organisers in Italy plan to mark the event that claimed the lives of Senna and Ratzenberger 30 years ago.
Memorials to Ratzenberger and Senna exist within the circuit, namely at the Tosa hairpin, which overlooks the Variante Villeneuve, and a sombre statue on the inside of Variante Tamburello.
To this day, both sites remain adorned with Austrian and Brazilian flags and images of the drivers.
“As a region we strongly wanted the return of Formula 1 to Imola, a central event in the very rich calendar of sporting events in Emilia-Romagna,” said Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia-Romagna region.
“This year the grand prix is enriched with further profound meanings: the memory of a much-loved champion like Ayrton Senna and a strong sign of a restart in Romagna hit by the flood.”
Last year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was cancelled when heavy rain in the region led to flooding, loss of life, and displaced thousands.
In Imola, the rising Santerno River which sits behind the pit complex and Variante Tamburello broke its banks, uprooting trees and flooding parts of the support paddock.
Formula 1 returns to Imola this year as Round 7 of the world championship, its first European race of the year.
