It was on this weekend 30 years ago (at the time of writing) that the catastrophic events of Imola changed Formula One forever. The great Ayrton Senna was killed during the race itself, and being a three-time champion meant that the tragedy the day before was overshadowed. The death of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying has sadly become something of a footnote, or even the answer to a morbid quiz question, but the Austrian was a serial winner in his own right throughout his career, and, in a human sense, no less a loss. And it's that human side that we celebrate here, as he takes on his near-namesake in the much-hyped Race of the Century.
This clip is taken from The Official Worldwide Roland Rat Appreciation Society (or OWRRAS for short) Summer Spectacular from 1985 - possibly the very last one at the end of the holidays before the rat deserted TV-am - and if you want to see the rest, you can watch it here:
• Roland Rat: OWRRAS Sum...
You don't get too many sports stars with senses of humour and self-awareness these days, willing to send themselves up and look a bit silly next to a big-headed cheating puppet superstar (and especially not in a foreign language), but here we are. How this all came to pass is beyond me, but I'm certainly glad that it did.
Many thanks to Sally for sending me this tape.
(If you're a copyright holder and have any objections, please feel free to contact me. Alternatively, I haven't monetised the video, so you're welcome to do so, and that way everybody wins.)