There was a moment of silence at the drivers' meeting before the Grand Prix of Japan and it was for Maria de Vilotta, a driver who died on March 11 from injuries she suffered in accident that still isn't well-understood a year after it happened.
Ms de Vilotta was the test driver for Marussia and was one of the few women who looked like they had a chance of getting into the starting grid in Formula One. During a test run in a Formula One car last year she ran into a vehicle on the track but what is strange is that she wasn't even going that fast (e.g. only about 55-60 kph). Marussia said they couldn't find any malfunction in the car and the telemetry in a Formula One vehicle is so sophisticated that the pit team could probably put one into a lunar orbit.
It's all the more unusual in that she looked like she was doing well in her recovery but don't think for a moment that drugs or suicide had anything to do with her death as it was caused by cardiac arrest that doctors believe was caused by another change in the cerebral damage she suffered last year.
Here's a hat tip to a brave lady and this is poignant for me as two of my sisters raced hard also. I've so lost track of all the nicknames I've used on here so let's go with the Queen Bee for my oldest sister. One thing I know for sure is that any macho man would be making a serious mistake if he thought the Queen Bee would give way if he fought her for control of the racing line in a corner. The next thing he would be seeing would be a cloud of dust as he went off the track. The Army was trying unsuccessfully to make me a soldier while this was happening so I don't have any good stories but they must exist as she went to race at the Nationals at least once and, I think, twice.
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