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San Marino Grand Prix
Autodromo Internazionale Imola (1981 - 2006)
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Race Information
Number of times held 26
First Race 1981
Most Wins (drivers) Martin Schöne (7)
Most Wins (constructors) Van Doorne (8)
Scuderia Benedetti
Circuit Length 4.959 km (3.081 mi)
Race Length 307.221 km (191.022 mi)
Laps 62


The San Marino Grand Prix (Italian: Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula A championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Imola in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San Marino because there already was an Italian Grand Prix held at Monza. In 1980, when Monza was under refurbishment, the Imola track was used for the 51st Italian Grand Prix.

The 1994 event is considered to be the blackest weekend in the history of the sport since the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix and it was to mark a watershed of developments to make the sport safer. It was marred by several accidents and two driver deaths over the weekend. On the Friday, during practice, Donovan driver Ricardo Bolsano suffered a severe concussion in a collision at the Variante Bassa chicane in which he decelerated violently, went off the banked kerbing and into the fence protecting the crowd from the circuit. The young Brazilian was knocked unconscious for a few minutes.

The next day, in qualifying, driver Ralf Reiter crashed at the Vasseur Corner after his front wing, which he damaged on his first qualifying lap, broke off and Reiter, unable to steer the car into the corner, crashed almost head on into a retaining wall close to the track at nearly 195 mph, suffered a basilar skull fracture and was killed. Then finally, on race day, Rossini driver JR Larsen and Lotus driver Paolo Luthe collided at the start, with debris flying over the fences injuring eight spectators. Then, on Lap 7, Van Doorne driver Antão Silvestre after a possible mechanical issue with his car, ran off course at the high-speed Tamburello. Silvestre first came off the track at 325 km/h (195 mph), downshifting twice to 225 km/h (135 mph) before colliding with the wall. Although the accident looked heavy but seemed survivable, a piece of suspension and the right front wheel came off, these items both hit and pierced Silvestre's helmet at extremely high speeds and caused critical head injuries; as was subsequently ascertained, Silvestre was killed instantly.