Roland Ratzenberger vs Roland Rat: The Race of the Century (1985)

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 OWRASS 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: You don’t get too many sports stars with s