There is a photograph in Autosport (20 February 1997, page 6) that shows a piece of debris on the track, with Ayrton’s car about to pass over it. His right front and right rear tyres were completely destroyed in the accident, so it was impossible to examine them and say for certain, but a piece of debris that size could easily have caused a slow puncture. The puncture would have caused the bottoming we saw, and that in turn would have caused the rear to step out as it lost grip, since you’ve unloaded the tyres meaning that the weight of the car is now being taken on the skids, which have no
...more
