A Cambridgeshire test left María de Villota without her right eye - what did it cost her and her family?
The front wing that clipped a support car cost María de Villota her right eye
In this episode, we follow the slow-motion accident that changed María de Villota’s life and the career-long pursuit of Formula One by her father, Emilio de Villota. The episode traces test procedures, race attempts, and the decisions that linked two generations by ambition and sacrifice. What did reaching for Formula One exact from them?
Person: María de Villota
Event: aerodynamic test at walking pace where a front wing clipped a support vehicle
Location: Cambridgeshire, England (airfield)
Person: Emilio de Villota Ruíz
Period: 1970s-1980s racing career
- A July 2012 aerodynamic test at walking pace saw a Formula One front wing clip a support car, causing María de Villota to lose her right eye.
- Emilio de Villota attempted fifteen World Championship Grands Prix entries and qualified for exactly two, both at the Spanish Grand Prix.
- Emilio’s early international debut was the 1972 Jarama four-hour race in a SEAT 124 SC with Scuderia Filipinetti, finishing fifteenth.
- In 1976 he raced in Shellsport with Lyncar Engineering, moved to a Brabham BT44B for a first World Championship qualifying attempt, and faced the structural barriers of funding and factory support.
- After repeated World Championship qualification failures, he shifted to the Aurora AFX F1 Championship, achieving nine victories across three seasons with genuine Formula One machinery.
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