Elio De Angelis

ELIO DE ANGELIS d1986. Italian F1 driver between 1979-1986 with Shadow / Lotus and Brabham teams referred to as "the last of F1s gentlemen players". He started 109 GPs with 9 podiums and had 2 wins in Austria (1982) and San Marino (1985). He sadly lost his life aged just 28 whilst testing at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. The rear wing of his BT55 detached at high speed, resulting in the car losing downforce on its rear wheels ; this instigated a cartwheel over a sidetrack barrier and caused the car to catch fire. The impact itself did not kill De Angelis, but he was unable to extract himself from the car unassisted. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of track marshals on duty at  the circuit who could have provided him with emergency assistance. A thirty minute delay ensued before a helicopter arrived and De Angelis died 29 hours later in hospital. The tragic circumstances of his death caused radical changes to be introduced by then President Jean Balestre in the months following the accident and ultimately heralded the end of the turbo powered era in Formula One racing.