Sadly, racing driver Maria de Villota died today
at the age of 33.
She was the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de
Villota and she competed in numerous racing series, including the World Touring
Car Championship and ADAC Procar Series. In August 2009, she signed with Atlético
Madrid to race in the Superleague Formula open wheel racing series. She
remained with the Atlético Madrid team until the series folded in 2011. She
also competed in the 2005 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race.
In 2012 she was involved in a testing accident whilst
carrying out testing for the Marussia F1 team. Her car collided with a
stationary truck at the end of a test run. It took an hour for her to be removed
from the car and she was taken to hospital with life-threatening head and
facial injuries.
She took months to recover and at the time of
her death was still requiring further surgery. She had lost her right eye and suffered massive skull damage.
Nevertheless she threw herself back into the sport and worked for
improved safety and to introduce young girls to the thrill of racing. She said she was determined to stay involved with Formula One in some
form and being a role model for aspiring young female drivers was
extremely important to her. In July she married her personal trainer.
On the
morning of 11 October 2013, exactly one year from her first public appearance
after her testing accident, she was found dead in her Seville hotel room. An autopsy
confirmed she died of natural causes after suffering a cardiac arrest, with all
indications that the underlying cause may have been due to a 'detachment of
brain mass' as a result of her 2012 accident.
Monisha Kaltenborn, the team principal of the
Sauber Formula One team, summed up her personality as someone who was always
smiling and happy and who even used her face patch as a fashion accessory. She was
due to launch her autobiography ‘Life Is a Gift’ on 14 October. So ironic.
A sad and horrible irony indeed.
ReplyDeleteI second that. A terrible loss.
DeleteI somehow have missed reading your blog. How it got taken off my list is anyone's guess, but I also am lost when coming here...you have so MANY blogs! Anyway, thanks for your visit.
ReplyDeleteSo sad. She sounds like a really nice person.
ReplyDeleteThat is tremendously sad. I read about it earlier today. I wondered though (as I always do) why anyone would want to be a racing driver, to be honest. But there' s no arguing with following your dream. An amazing sounding woman.
ReplyDeleteHer life was a gift, and may she rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to hear this.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest tribute ended up coming from a Sky commentator who said that the feeling in the whole Paddock yesterday was 'horrible - unlike anything I've ever known before'. Maria's friend Susie Wolff, development driver for Williams, said that she could only be thankful that we had her for an extra eighteen months.
ReplyDeletealways make sure you find a Man that can afford to take you to the Australian grand prix. so ironic. LOL!
ReplyDeleteVery sad. I read about this on the CNN website, and all the people commenting on the article were arguing about the whole "natural causes" label. I'm sure what the authorities were trying to convey was that she did not take her own life... but still, I think "natural causes" is the wrong thing to call this. Death caused by injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident, however delayed, certainly isn't "natural".
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. Being found in a hotel room has such unfortunate connotations and I think all they were trying to convey was the 'not suicide' verdict.
DeleteShe lived her life to the fullest doing what she loved best.
ReplyDeleteShe will be missed in the world of car racing.
May she rest in peace.
Tributes from India!
ReplyDelete