SILVERSTONE 2003 – Cornelius Horan, commonly known as “The Grand Prix Priest”, almost runs over thirteen F1 cars
“Attention, what is this? It’s a madman again! It reminds us of Hockenheim. He is standing in the middle of track at 300 kmh! That guy’s perilously insane! Something has to be done immediately! The drivers are approaching at 300 kmh!”
– “Yeah, the Safety car needs to be deployed.”
– “Yes, of course! But they have to see him! Now he’s getting even closer to the racing line! Verstappen perceives him, too. This… is… madness! Good heavens! Antônio Pizzonia can’t believe it. Now the man is taken away from the racing line, pulled down to the ground. This just can’t be happening!”
Interestingly, in the meantime the Italian television “RAI” was broadcasting a commercial featuring the crazy sheeps of “Mentos”, which was interrupted to show the madder priest😂 And suddenly you could listen to the anchorman Gianfranco Mazzoni, in a mixed excited and fearful voice, calling that man on the track continuosly “sportivo”, an elegant Italian word for fan. While it’s colleague at ITV, the more engaging commentator James Allen, definited him “lunatic”…
Compared to the other European moderators, the emotions of Jacques Schulz can definitely be commensurate to whose experienced by an italian journalist when it concerns about Ferrari!!
The madman on the track was that Cornelius “Neil” Horan, who would have later written directly to Angela Merkel about his want to boycott the FIFA World Cup held in Germany.
He somehow got onto the track and ran backwards along the Hangar Straight, the fastest part of the circuit, almost into the racing line of F1 cars. He was eventually tackled by brave marshal Stephen Green, who sprinted onto the track, shoved Horan to the floor (in the manner of a Smackdown’s wrestler) and then dragged him away from danger. At this point the reference Schulz makes is to the crazy 2000 German Grand Prix (also won by Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari following an exceptional comeback), when a former Mercedes employee protested at the old (beautiful) Hockenheimring.
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