Senna's Death Trial - 4 July 1997

4 July 1997 New hearing at the Senna trial. Gary Woodward, a William technician, testified. At the time of the '94 San Marino GP Woodward was responsable for the mechanic of the front of Senna's car. He said that after every GP the cars are subjected to crack-tests utilising penetrating liquids to reveal any crack in the suspensions and the steering column. The steering column is also subjected to further testing to check that its axis is correct and the column is substitued halfway through the season. The checks before the San Marino GP did not show any defect in Senna's steering system.

Passarini asked him whether he was aware that the column had been modified. Woodward replied that the column had been redesigned to increase the amount of available space within the limits of the regulations. The same modification was carried out on all three cars before the Brazilian GP.

Second witness was Simon Scoin, electronic engineer, responsable for the download of the telemetry data. He was the one who removed teh Williams black box from the car after the accident. Scoin said he could remeber his shock when he lifted the cloth with which the car had been covered. The black box was above the gearbox, 180 cm away from its usual position. Three of the four connectors were disconnected or damaged. Back in the pits he tried to connect the black box to the power supply to extract the data, but the power system in the black box had failed and it was improbable that the data could be extracted. He tried to insert the ram card, but without success. He did not touch the Renault black box.

Brian O'Rourke, responsable for compound materials at Williams, added that the violent impact of the right wheel against the wall caused an inverted tension on the steering column which broke it. Today the trial continues with a new examination of the Cineca elaboration.

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