APRIL 12, 2001

Barrichello has mixed feelings ahead of Imola

FERRARI driver Rubens Barrichello has said that he will have mixed feelings in this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix as he puts thoughts of his 1994 crash to the back of his mind to race in front of his team's home crowd.

FERRARI driver Rubens Barrichello has said that he will have mixed feelings in this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix as he puts thoughts of his 1994 crash to the back of his mind to race in front of his team's home crowd.

Barrichello was involved in a near fatal accident in Friday qualifying at Imola in 1994 when his Jordan car crashed over the tire wall and into the safety fence. His mentor Ayrton Senna was then killed in the race.

"I have mixed emotions about Imola," said Barrichello. "It is a place that I go to as a professional and enjoy the race track, but it also has some bad memories from the past. Now, I try to enjoy it as much as I can. I have turned the page on the past."

Barrichello, meanwhile, thinks the pressure in San Marino will not measure up to the pressure he faced in front of his home crowd at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Despite the fact that he will be racing in front of the lively and expectant 'Tifosi', Barrichello said he will not feel the pressure he was put under at Interlagos.

"I would say racing in Italy has a lot of pressure, but not as much as in your home country," he said.