Remembering Elio de Angelis
It was 25 years ago this week that Elio de Angelis lost his life in a testing crash at Paul Ricard. Tony Dodgins pays tribute to the popular Italian and looks back at his role in the 1980s Formula 1 story
It's 25 years ago today, May 15, that Elio de Angelis died after a testing accident at Paul Ricard in the 'laydown' Brabham-BMW BT55.
The rear wing failed, the car somersaulted a barrier and came to rest upside down with Elio trapped. A fire started, the marshals were inadequately equipped and the Roman was trapped in the car for almost 10 minutes. A helicopter to take Elio to hospital in Marseille took another half an hour to arrive and, although his physical injuries were limited to a broken collarbone and mild burns to his back, he died from smoke inhalation at just 28.
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