Senna remembered as San Marino Grand Prix track opens to the public to mark 20 since his death
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The famous San Marino Grand Prix track is inviting the public to drive, cycle and even walk around the circuit to remember iconic Formula One champion Senna who was killed there 20 years ago today.
Tourists and Formula One fans will be able to explore the Imola track and remember Brazil's three-time F1 champion, who died in an accident during the Grand Prix on May 1, 1994.
The circuit is open for four days, allowing visitors to explore the paddock and pits as well as make a lap of the route and visit special exhibitions about the sport.
Remembered: F1 star Ayrton Senna was killed on May 1 1994 as he raced at the Imola track
Commemoration: People look at the pictures of Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna during an exhibition at the Imola race track to mark 20 years since his death
Ayrton Senna, who was just 34 when he died, was a sporting superstar at the time of his death, and has attained almost demigod status in his home country.
The Sao Paulo native was leading when he crashed on lap seven, smashing into a wall at the Tamburello Curve and sustaining fatal head injuries.
Roland Ratzenberger, the Austrian driver who died the day before Senna in a crash on the same track during qualifying, will be remembered alongside Senna in a host of memorial activities this week.
Following Senna's fatal crash in 1994, Brazil's president Itamar Franco ordered three days of national mourning.
And when Senna's body was flown back to his home city, an estimated three million people lined the streets to pay their respects as it made a 20-mile journey from the airport to the building where he lay in state.
Once there, the queue of those who wished to pay their last respects is understood to have stretched for three miles, some suggesting it was seven hours before the last of the 200,000 mourners shuffled past.
Never forgotten: Margit and Rudolf Ratzemberger, parents of Austrian Formula One driver Roland Ratzemberger, pose for a photo next to pictures of their son, during the exhibition
Imola, which lies 25 miles east of Bologna, counts the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola track as its top tourist attraction, with motor fans flocking to visit the site of the tragedy every year.
A small plaque on the concrete retaining wall of the track shows an inked image of the star and fans still place flowers at the site.
Sightseers can also stop to look at a bronze statue of the race driver near the spot where he had his fatal accident.
Open for business: The San Marino Grand Prix track is inviting the public to come and explore over the next four days
Iconic: The track is still considered Imola's most famous tourist attraction even though the Grand Prix is not held there anymore
Jeremy Clarkson also filmed part of his DVD The Italian Job there and BBC's Top Gear have also raced at the Imola track.
Past and current figures from F1 are set to be present for a series of events, from which a part of each day's proceeds will go towards the Ayrton Senna Institute's charitable works.
The San Marino Grand Prix was eventually dropped from the F1 calendar in 2006.
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