Ronnie Peterson var död, men händelsen på Monza fick ett efterspel. Vem var egentligen skyldig? Omedelbart efter Italiens GP ville ett flertal av förarna bojkotta den som genom sin ansvarslösa körning ansågs ha orsakat olyckan - Riccardo Patrese - och det blev så att han stängdes av en tävling. Patrese kom från en rik familj och gav ett arrogant och osympatiskt intryck vid den här tidpunkten (med åren kom Patrese att bli en respekterad F1-förare i toppen av maratontabellen över körda lopp).
Men avstängning över ett lopp räckte inte och det blev en då mycket ung utredningsdomare, Armando Spataro, som fick uppgiften att utreda olyckan. Han tillsatte en kommitté av tekniska specialister av allehanda slag. De arbetade långsamt, men minutiöst och det ledde till slut att föraren Riccardo Patrese och startern Giovanni Restelli åtalades för dråp. Upplösningen kom över tre år efter olyckan, den 28 oktober 1981, då domaren Generoso Petrella kallade till rättegång.
Riccardo Patrese och Giovanni Restelli
Åklagaren yrkade på att Patrese skulle dömas till ett villkorligt straff med åtta månaders fängelse och ville visa följande:
- Giovanni Restelli hade låtit starta loppet (trots att bilarna i de bakre leden inte stod helt stilla) och var därmed delansvarig i olyckan.
- Riccardo Patrese försökte köra om Hunt på höger sida, utanför banmarkeringen och trots att banan smalnade av
- Ronnie Peterson hade gjort en dålig start och blivit omkörd av flera bilar (bakom Ronnie kom James Hunt och Riccardo Patrese i hög fart)
Ovanstående teckning av Magnus Gerne publicerades i Expressen dagen efter olyckan på Monza. Den visar hur Patrese svänger in framför Hunt som i sin tur kör in i Ronnie. Patrese nekade till att ha touchat Hunt, men Hunt vidhöll under hela sitt liv att Patrese hade kört på honom. Italiensk press gick hårt åt Patrese för dennes hänsynslösa körning.
Under rättegången vittnade Clay Regazzoni, då sittande i rullstol, om Patreses farliga körstil. Ord stod emot ord om att Arrowsteamet snabbt hade bytt däck på Patreses bil för att undanröja spåren efter en eventuell kollision. Den italienska tidningen Autosprint bidrog med ett stort antal fotografier för att försöka bringa klarhet i olycksförloppet, bl a genom att dess läsare fick skicka in sina egna fotoalster.
De tre ledamöterna i rätten behövde endast fem minuter på sig för att meddela domaren Petrella sin åsikt. Sent på kvällen den 28 oktober stod det klart att rättens beslut var att fria såväl Patrese som Restelli från alla anklagelser.
- trots att alla var överens om att Restelli felaktigt startat fältet, friades han pga en juridiskt-tekniskt omständighet
- Patrese friades efter att ett vittne, Carlo Librizzi, förklarat att han från sin plats i det s k Fiat-tornet sett hur Patrese var mer än en billängd framför Hunt när han svängde in framför Hunts McLaren (Autosprints fotografier gjorde bedömningen 9 fot framför möjlig)
Två år efter frikännandet gavs offentlighet åt juryns utslag. Där framgår att James Hunt gavs hela skulden. Hunt skulle ha bromsat in och hållit sin linje bakom Patrese. Detta faktum gav aldrig Hunt någon ro och han fortsatte att bedyra sin uppenbara oskuld. År 1993 dog James Hunt av en hjärtattack, bara 46 år gammal.
Den italienska rättens utslag är kanske inte så förvånande, vi som idag följer cirkus Berlusconi förstår. Hade en hänsynslös och ansvarslös Patrese inte funnits på Monza 1978 hade olyckan aldrig inträffat. På internet (Atlas F1 Bulletin) kan man idag läsa hur signaturen "Buford" ser på händelsen:
"I have the
wreck on video tape. ABC had it from 3 cameras including a helicopter, and I had
a VCR in 1978, years before most people got one. Tapes in those days were $35.00
each.
The cars at the rear were not stopped when the starter started it. But despite
the advantage of still rolling slowly (over being at a dead stop) they had
nowhere on the track to go to take advantage of this because of the field ahead
that was at a dead stop. But to their right there was another paved lane marked
off by a line indicating this is not legal race track surface. It is a lane that
originally led onto the banking and had a barrier down near the end that forced
anybody on that lane (which should have been nobody) to either stop or merge
left back onto the official track.
Patrese whipped to the right and stood on it and blasted up on the non track
lane passing the just starting rows of cars until he was up near the front,
perhaps row 3. The cars to his left were now racing and spread across the track
and when faced with the fast approaching barrier, instead of braking and waiting
for the cars on the actual track to pass before merging in he simply tuned left
and forced his way in. The evasive action required of the cars on the legal
track caused wheel banging and that turned Peterson right head on into the
barrier where his car exploded and others piled up behind. Wheels went
everywhere and cars spun wildly and in the middle of it all was an enormous
fireball with thick black smoke and flames extending across the entire track. It
was similar to the Sachs-MacDonald fireball though not that big. But pretty damn
big.
They switched to the helicopter shot directly above the fire. Peterson was
totally exposed in the flames. The front of the car was gone. You could see his
white uniform all the way down to this feet. He was not moving and fuel was
running out and the fire increasing. Hunt and others immediately arrived in
seconds and either Peterson's belts were already gone or Hunt was easily able to
release them but they quickly picked him up and drug him away and layed him down
on the track away from the fire. You could not see his upper body at that point
due to the drivers around him, but you could see both legs were badly broken in
multiple places and Jackie Stewart was commentating it was good they had gotten
him out of the fire, but he seemed to have some leg injuries, at least.
To say this was not totally the fault of Patrese is absurd. Had he not used
illegal surface to make passes and then crowded in with no regard to the cars on
his left who were on the legal racing surface, it would not have happened.
I just went and
pulled the tape. ABC was showing the Michigan 150 Indy Car race and then they
cut away at a yellow to go to the GP Italy report. Jim McKay and Jackie Steward
started the broadcast telling of the ironic parallels of the first American
World Champion whose teammate had died at Monza at the race he won the
championship and how it had now happened again. Then they showed the Von Trips
crash in black and white footage. Then they said what a festive atmosphere it
was the weekend before and how expectant they were but it had all gone terribly
wrong. Then McKay said "Lets go back in time to our coverage of the race as
Jackie and I called it last weekend in Italy."
They show a helicopter shot of the grid and are talking about the Hill victory
and a seven year old boy a few years before that who was at Monza when Ascari
won who dreamed of racing some day. That boy was Mario Andretti who today has a
chance to win the World Championship. They explain only his teammate has a
chance to win the championship and if Mario wins today and Peterson finishes no
better than 4th Mario will clinch. They interview Mario who is hoping for a
clean start and is worried about the chicane and they interview Ronnie telling
of his morning accident, "No brakes from very high speed." Peterson
says he has to drive the old 78 and then Chapman arrives and Peterson smiles and
Chapman puts his hand on Ronnie's shoulder and points to the grid. Then they
show the warm-up lap.
Tambay goes to the pits as the cars roll up slowly. Stewart explains they have a
light system now. They show the front row stop. It is just five seconds before
they take off so clearly the rest of the filed had to be still moving. Most of
what I described from memory above was accurate but now looking at it after 20
years it is even more blatant than I described when Patrese moved over. He not
only was not ahead of Hunt, he was directly along side and just squeezed him
left. It appears he hits Hunt but the cars are going away and seen from the
rear. If he didn't hit him, he forced Hunt at least a lane to the left into
Peterson who hits wheels and spins to the right directly into the barrier. Then
it switches to the chicane view looking back up the track showing cars and
wheels and wings flying around and the entire horizon behind that filled with
black smoke.
They are yelling “There’s an accident. It’s a big one. These cars are full
of fuel. It’s a black car, it could be Ronnie Peterson.” Then they switch to
the helicopter which is approaching from the chicane side of the crash on the
grandstand side. Stewart says “There’s a driver, it looks like James Hunt
running to the car that’s burning there, he’s running to that car…” and
McKay jumps in “Word Jackie that it’s Peterson. Peterson in the burning car.
A number of other cars and we’ll pick them up as we can but that is bad, very
bad and he’s still in that car and oh, this is terrible.” Then the
helicopter arrives directly above and just off the track from the fire and the
smoke clears and there is a direct shot down on massive flames. Two drivers are
there and two firemen. One is pouring on an extinguisher and another from the
safety vehicle which has the trunk open and he has a long hose. The car is
enveloped in flames and two drivers are standing near making feints
to go in but there is too much fire. A third driver with a mostly red helmet
with white ovals all around arrives with an extinguisher but it doesn’t work
and he turns away. A 4th driver in a red suit and mostly red helmet with white
striping is a ways back waving his arms. The second driver to the scene has a
white suit and his helmet appears to be blue at the top third, then white in the
middle third, and red around the bottom third. Hunt has a dark helmet and has
red shoulders. Those are the two trying to get in.
Here is where it differs from my earlier description from 20 year old memory.
Peterson is in a yellow suit and he was in fact moving. He amazingly appears out
of the front of the flames with his dark helmet pointed away from the car. You
could not see it through the inferno but he has apparently lunged forward
through the open front of the car and ends up sitting on the ground outside the
missing front, the opposite way he was sitting in the car. The two firemen see
this and stop spraying the car and start spraying him and while he was totally
enveloped in flames, they beat it down so you can see him lying on his back up
on his elbows with his legs from knee down back in the wreckage and fire. Seeing
this Hunt and the guy in the blue and white and red striped helmet get inspired
and move in. Stewart says “They are fighting the fire. They are very quickly
onto it. There’s James Hunt. There’s another driver. Patrick Depallier is in
there. The other guy (Depallier apparently) is kicking the wreckage around
Peterson’s legs three kicks and then Hunt kind of shoulders him out of the way
from his left and bends over and grabs his legs and after a couple big pulls he
starts dragging him away by the legs. The guy in the red suit moves in as does a
guy in a blue suit and the three of them drag him a short distance away.
Depallier (spelling?) is just to his left. He had done a heroic job though it
was Hunt who got a hold of him and drug him away and the others joined in after
he already had him extracted.
McKay says “They’re getting him out of the car!!!” and Stewart says
“He’s out of the car now and thank goodness for that. They’re getting the
fire under control.” He says some other things about other cars. Hunt walks
away taking off his gloves. Other drivers surround Peterson. Then his legs are
visible horribly mangled, and he raises the left one. Stewart says “That is
Ronnie Peterson we are looking at. He’s got leg injuries there I’m afraid as
well as anything else.”
They continue to show the helicopter shots of the overall area, then the red
flag, then show and comment on Brambilla laying on the ground next to his car.
Then they show the replay. They are blaming the starter for the cars not fully
stopped. They show it full speed. They then zoom in, in close up and Stewart
says, “The slow motion here, it seems to me as I read it in fact the driver
Patrese seems to have come into contact with James Hunt in a red and white car.
He bounced across; it looks like he has hit Ronnie Peterson in the rear wheel.
Ronnie then veers right down, crashes into the barrier, the front end of the car
has got the barrier. The car then leapt across the road, hit the Tyrrell car of
Didier Pironi and that was a heavy impact as well…”
Stewart interviews Andretti. He says the track encourages passing and then
funnels down. He said “I am really worried about Ronnie. It is very bad.”
They show the ambulance taking Peterson away. They go away to commercial and
when they come back they have a voice over by McKay saying it was clear at this
point the multiple injuries to Peterson had given Andretti the title. “Later
Peterson would die, but not until the next morning. Victory so long anticipated
and so much earned, now tasted like ashes in Mario’s mouth.”
They go to a before the restart interview with Mario who says “It is no time
to feel like celebrating and it has lost it’s impact. Everything was going so
well for both us.”"
Ja, tänk om rätten hade haft tillgång till den filmen. Då hade nog inte Patrese kört lika många F1-lopp och vem vet, James Hunt olyckliga liv kanske hade tagit en annan vändning. Tyvärr hade det inte förändrat utgången för Ronnie...
Efter olyckan på Monza fick Sid Watkins större befogenheter och i praktiken blev han den som ansvarade för hela säkerheten på banan vid en F1-tävling. Arrangörerna satte sig på tvären, men under de följande 20 åren bevisade Watkins att hans metoder var rätt. En markant höjning av standarden på säkerhet och medicinsk vård minskade olyckorna och lindrade följderna rejält. 51 allvarligt skadade förare på 250 olyckor under åren 1973-1977, att jämföra med tre allvarligt skadade på 283 olyckor under åren 1978-1982.
