WATCH: When Ayrton Senna Saved the Life of Fellow F1 Driver Following a Horrendous 200MPH Crash
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F1 is a dangerous sport, there’s no doubt about that. Drivers drive the cars as fast as 200 MPH and there’s a heavy risk of life-threatening injuries every second. However, the modern-day F1 cars are pretty stiff and much safer against crashes compared to the older cars.
As we’ve seen in 2020 when Romain Grosjean walked through a fireball or more recently in Saudi Arabia when Mick Schumacher suffered a horrific crash in the qualifying. Ironically, today we’ll talk about a driver who died two years after he saved another driver. And he’s none other than Ayrton Senna.
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We’re talking about the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix. A race that saw drivers like Erik Comas and Gerhard Berger, despite facing life-threatening crashes, escape unscathed. Thankfully, there was Ayrton Senna, who saved Erik Comas’ life.
How did Ayrton Senna save Erik Comas?
Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps is a vicious circuit and it is both loved and feared by F1 drivers for its nature. The high speed corners, high kerb, and sudden elevation changes make it one of the most thrilling race-track ever.
In 1992, Ligier’s Erik Comas spun while exciting the Blanchimont corner and hit the barrier during the qualifying race.
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The hit was so massive that it broke open the front right wheel. Ayrton Senna was the first driver to reach the spot as soon as the crash took place. Senna noticed that Erik was unconscious, but his car was on full rev.
Soon after, the Brazilian parked his car at a safe distance and ran to Erik’s aid. He immediately turned off the engine to stop any chances of a fire breakout. Moreover, Ayrton kept supporting Comas’s head until the medical team arrived.
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A sad twist of fate saw Erik Comas take the premature retirement in 1994. The same year Ayrton Senna died in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix. How unfortunate can one be, as Erik was the last man on the track to see Senna at the crash scene and was unable to help. Erik opened up about this later in interviews and that is an incident the Ligier driver will never forget.
Edited by:
Ranvijay Singh