My first hint that something was wrong came Sunday afternoon when I logged on to the BBS (bulletin board service, a central computer acting as a host for other users to exchange messages) for auto racing. Someone posted a short but gripping note, "I think I just witnessed the death of Ayrton Senna," he said. My eyes widened as I exclaimed "what," in shock and dismay. A few hours later, the facts became more clear. Senna had crashed on the sixth lap of the San Marino Grand Prix while leading the race. It happened at a section called "Tamburello" - a gentle bend taken at top speed, about 186 miles per hour. His car had suddenly veered off the course and crashed into a solid concrete wall. Senna was already considered one of the top drivers in grand prix racing history. He had more pole positions than any other driver and his total wins were surpassed only by Alain Prost who retired last year. His driving was characterized by incredible intensity and deep concentration. Mistakes from him were rare. It was shocking that he would have a serious crash, even more inconceivable that he would be in mortal danger.

On the BBS, all of us were experiencing a sense of loss and were having a difficult t

ime finding solace among outsiders to the sport of auto racing. Crashes like Senna's tend to bring out the worst critics who insist that racing events are watched by those who want only to see crashes. And so we turned to each other expressing first our anger, then sadness and finally a candid assessment of the sport and how it could be made safer. This was the second death of the weekend as another lesser-known driver was killed during a practice session before the race.

After that tragic weekend, Niki Lauda, the retired grand prix champion, was quoted as saying; "God lifted his hand from formula one racing momentarily this weekend after having protected it for ten years." To those of us who admire the drivers and thrill at the delicate beauty of a formula one car as it fleetingly dances along the path of the worlds race tracks, we can only pray that the benevolent hand of protection will return and restore the relative safety of the past ten years.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Details Senna's, Crashes Senna's, San Marino, Roland Ratzenberger, Niki Lauda, Grand Prix, Alain Prost, Formula Racing, Ayrton Senna, grand prix, san marino, formula racing, driver killed practice, auto racing, governing body, computer technology, concrete wall, steady increase, active suspension, grand prix racing, driver killed,
Approximate Word count = 1172
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)