The world of Formula 1 is full of peculiar stories, and many of them border on the comic at the same time as the misfortune, such as what happened on August 13, 1995 to Taki Inoue . Perhaps that name is not well known among motorsport fans, but surely if we talk about the only driver who was run over twice by the safety car, memories begin to surface.
After the fateful loss of Roland Ratzenberger at the dark Imola weekend in 1994, where three-time champion Ayrton Senna also passed away, the Simtek team looked for a second driver to take his seat, and that’s how the Japanese got to the Great Circus in the race of his country that same year.
With only one participation that course, he said goodbye to the British team to go to Footwork thanks to the support of nearly 18 million euros from sponsor Japan Tabacco . In his attempts to finish a Formula 1 race, Inoue only added abandonments, until in Canada he got a creditable ninth place, although a bit misleading, since he was the last of all the classified drivers, two laps behind the winner, Jean Alesi and his Ferrari.
The Japanese’s career was not being outstanding, but the Hungarian Grand Prix changed his life forever. When he was trying to extinguish the fire in the Hart engine of his FA16 after 13 disputed laps, one of the cars in charge of helping the pilots ran over him in a situation never seen before in Formula 1.
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Three marshals approached Inoue as his car stopped on the right side of the Hungaroring track, and just as he was returning to douse the Footwork flames, the medical vehicle with Jean Ragaotti at the controls collided with the driver, causing several fractures to his legs, although he was able to recover to finish the season.
After the 1995 Australian Grand Prix he did not get into a single-seater in a Formula 1 race again, although, to everyone’s surprise, that was not his only incident with the safety car.
A few months earlier, in Monaco, the Japanese also collided with the safety car. And it is that in the first free practices, the footwork brakes said enough, which made a crane try to tow it. The vehicle that tries to protect the pilots could not control its line and hit the pilot’s head , leaving him unconscious, but without major consequences, since he competed on Sunday in the Principality.
Currently, Inoue is quite a personality as far as Formula 1 is concerned, since he usually gives his opinion openly, in addition to leaving a sentence with a great sense of humor after his unsuccessful time at the Great Circus: “I thought that Formula 1 cars were dangerous but I’ve certainly had more problems with safety cars.
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