Motorcycle Racing's Darkest Day
Fuel tanks were ruptured, sparks flew and a ball of fame engulfed the circuit, setting alight the hay bales uselessly lining the Armco. Riders rode through the blinding inferno at high speed, trying but mostly failing to avoid the fallen. In all, 14 riders crashed. Only one or two walked away; several were seriously injured. Saarinen and Pasolini were dead.
And yet in spite of this scene of horror no warning flags were shown and the race wasn’t stopped. For several minutes many of the survivors kept racing, threading their way through the chaos each lap, until they pulled into the pits of their own volition and the race ended.