Programs, movies and memories. (USA version )

[khyndart in CA]

April 1983. Riverside.
A month after being at Long Beach I almost went to this race meet at nearby Riverside but stayed home to catch up with stuff around the house. Some of my workmates went and they were shattered after witnessing this crash.
Poor Rolf Stommelen had been devastated after a tragic F 1 crash in 1975 at the Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuic Park in Barcelona where his Hill Embassy car went into the crowd killing spectators when he lost control of his Hill GH1 when the rear wing came loose.
Ironically this crash at Riverside was also due to the rear wing of his Porsche 935L lifting loose and losing control before hitting and flipping over the massive barriers at the end of the straight before Riverside's infamous Turn Nine.
He apparently was a quiet gentleman and popular. This was indeed a sad day.





(Ken Hyndman )