I remember it well. I had been out the night before getting dumped by an old girlfriend. So I wasn't happy to start with. Because I was out I recorded the Grand Prix at Imola and did not watch it live - probably a good thing.
I woke up to the radio news - and it was bad. I rushed to the living room to hurriedly watch my recording of the event. I fast forwarded past the initial start and stoppage - there was a start line accident (not the fateful one) and then a wait then a restart.
More fast forwarding and then I see it happen - rewind so I can see it at normal speed.
I see the sparks of his car bottoming on the bump in the middle of the Tamburello curve. Then the car heads straight off the road without turning and hits the wall and the car, with accompanying wreckage, careers back towards the track. I can see him slumped in the car and I already know the result, but that doesn't stop me yelling at the TV screen at the marshal to "DO SOMETHING".
He knew what the situation was - he could see it. I knew, as I had heard the radio news only minutes before.
I felt sick in my stomach, I felt tears in my eyes - I couldn't change anything, it was done. I tried re-watching the accident on the video, hoping for a different outcome, but it didn't work. The same result each time.
A hero gone, full stop, no more.
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