98 replies to this topic

[pRy]

Ex F1 Italian Driver Michele Alboreto has died today in a racing crash. Not sure on any details. Report from Italian TV. If anyone sees any reports about this, they would be welcome as a reply to this thread.

[Ross Stonefeld]

mmmm

he drives the factory Audi R8 doesnt he?

[rasnual]

It makes me sad to hear this.

In earlier days I liked Michele very much.

[Pascal]

I'm gutted...

[Mr T]

He was my favourite when I started watching F1:cry:

[Andy23]

He had a crash at the Lausitzring and died while testing for the 24 hours of Le Mans for Audi...that's what I just read...

[Ross Stonefeld]

I wonder if he crashed in the oval section

[Smooth]

RIP Michele!

[Gary Grant]

That is dreadful news.....

[Ross Stonefeld]

Could we try to keep the smiley only posts to a minimum until we get more information?

[Pascal]

Ross, take a look here...

[GerhardP]

Originally posted by Gary Grant
That is dreadful news.....

I cannot believe it! It's really tragic. And such things always happen when you're expecting them the least...

[RedFever]

I will remember him driving his Tyrrell and impressing the hell out of everyone. He was a very nice guy and these news are terrible indeed.

[damonhillchamp96]

This is quite a tragedy. God bless his family and friends. Whenever something like this happens, it makes you stop and realize that all these drivers risk their lives everytime they get in the cars. Michele died doing something he loved. I hope I get as lucky when it is my turn

[Gary Grant]

This is the original story:-

ROMA - Michele Alboreto ha perso la vita questo pomeriggio in un
incidente sul circuito di Lausitzring,vicino a Dreda, mentre
stava eseguendo dei test su una Audi R8, una vettura per le
American-Le Mans series e per la corsa di Le Mans.Lo ha
confermato la portavoce della Audi Petra Van Oyen.Alboreto era
nato a Milano e aveva 44 anni.Ha corso con la Ferrari dal 1984
al 1988.Il suo miglior piazzamento nel mondiale piloti e' stato
il 2/o posto del 1985.

In English (roughly translated):-
ROME - Michele Alboreto has lost his life this afternoon in an incident on the circuit of Lausitzring, near Dreda, while he was performing tests on the Audi R8, a car for the American-Le Mans series and for the race at Le Mans. This has been confirmed by the spokesperson of Audi Petra Van Oyen.Alboreto was born in Milan and was 44. He was with the Ferrari team from 1984 to 1988.His best placing in the world drivers' championship was 2nd in 1985.

[JPMCrew]

R.I.P. Michele. Terrible news indeed. Just dreadful

[Greg L]

RIP Alboreto

[Sphinx]

R.I.P. Michele.

[John B]

Very sad news. When given an opportunity on slower tracks, he managed to put Tyrrell-Fords in victory lane twice in 1982-83. He pushed Prost most of the season for the 1985 title.

RIP. The first quarter of the 2001 racing season has been very sad.

[Psychoman]

Sucks indeed. We've lost more in the last 4 months than we needed to

[molive]

[Schumi Fan]

RIP...

[cjpani]

Descansa en paz:cry:

[Anavar]

ci hai stupito con la tua classe, ci hai sbalordito con la tua tenacia. Infine ci hai fatto sognare con la tua grandezza...grazie per i stupendi riccordi. Che la tua anima possa riposare in pace.

[AlesiGOD]

Oh no...

[JuanF1]

damonhill, I couldn't have said it better. RIP Michele.

[Chris Bloom]

This is terrible news. When I first started following Formula One in the early eigties Alboreto was one of the rising stars.

My first full season of watching F1 on TV was 1982. During this season Michele was always seemingly impressing the various race reporters as he was often challenging Keke Rosberg for best placed DFV runner. It was fitting that he scored his first win at Las Vegas in the last race of that season. I vividly remember Keke giving him a big hug on the podium:)

1983 was the year Turbos started to dominate, still Michele grabbed his second victory and the trusty old DFV's 155th and last at Detroit.

When Michele went to Ferrari in 1984 he and Nelson Piquet were the only non-Mclaren drivers to score victories and in 1985 he was a lot closer to Prost for much of the season than most people remember.

My condolences to his family.

Chris

[Zeus]

This is very sad news. Alboreto always seemed like a very friendly and happy person. He was my first favorite driver when I started watching F1 in 88. RIP Alboreto

[The Kanisteri]

R.I.P.

[magic]

bad news.

ps
he almost gave ferrari it's first wdc in 6 years in '85.

[Max_Mac]

R.I.P

[Reg]

very sad news to hear.

condolences to his family and all racefans alike who never like to hear of any death in this sport we so love.

The man died tragically, but doing what he loved to do at teh same time.

RIP Michele

[Dimo]

Wow, shocking news. Truly sad and your thoughts have to be with the family...

Has anyone seen anything more definitive on the type of mechanical failure? All I have seen so far has been a vague comments towards a "failing component".

[AD]

This was a man who had only a few more years racing in him until he took a very deserved retirement with his wife and 2 children. It's so sad when he died like this:cry:

[coyoteBR]

My condolences and respect to the family, fans and tifosi.

...

Thanks for all the pages of the sport you helped to write. May all the racing entusiasts send you plenty of light for the sequel of your journey.

Peace be with you, Michelle...

[Duck]

I began rooting for Michele when he first broke into F1 back in the early 80's driving for Ken Tyrrell, and was simply elated when he won his first Grand Prix - the U.S..
I had the good fortune of meeting Michele a couple of years ago during his brief stint in the I.R.L.. He was a wonderful conversationalist, possessing wonderful degrees of warmth, and charm. My thoughts, and prayers extend to his family, as well as to Audi Sport.
R.I.P. Michele.

[Obscured]

Descansa en Paz, Michele...

sad days are this

[A3]

Terrible. R.I.P. Michele

[cupra]

Sad news

RIP Michelle

[Bjorn]

Just heard, this is awful.

Rest in peace, Michele

[Cociani]

Shocked, I watched him race on TV when I was young. He will be missed. I can only offer condolences to his family.

[Thanassis]

RIP Michele Alboreto.

[Makarias]

Very sad.

[nigel red5]

R.I.P Michele......

He carried his love for racing through from Formula 1, to his successful touring car career.

What a shame......

[Ali_G]

just heard it on the news.

Seemingly a compontent in his R8 failed.

This could shake Audi up a bit with Le Mans coming up. They don't want a similar situation that mercedes were in 2 years ago.

RIP Michele.

Niall

[Mickey]

The 1st full F1 race I ever saw was Alboreto's 2nd win in 83.

He carried the hope of a nation when he joined the Scuderia the year after, and almost gave us the WC.

Riposa in pace, Michele.

[kouks]

He was my favourite driver when I started watching F1 in the eighties.

Condolences to his family.

[HP]

He was one of my favourite drivers.

[baddog]

This is very sad news.. He was quietly a great driver, one of those who interested me in my early F1 watching days. I'm glad he got to do what he loved up to the end though.

Shaun

[theMot]

I only ever saw Michelle drive awful cars towards the end of his career but i saw him drive the Ferrari's from old races and season reviews i have on tape.

R.I.P