Iván Palazzese is killed at the German Grand Prix.
Riding a Morbidelli for Venezuela in 1977 Ivan became the youngest person at the time to stand on a Grand Prix podium, when he finished third behind Spain's Angel Nieto and Germany's Anton Mang at the 125cc Venezuelan Grand Prix at the age of 15.
In 1982 he won two 125cc class Grands Prix races and finished the season in third place, behind Nieto and Italy's Eugenio Lazzarini.
Ivan Palazzese was killed at the 1989 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. He was right behind Andreas Preining when Preining's engine seized and abruptly slowed, causing the riders to collide and subsequently crash. While Ivan was picking himself up off the ground, he was struck by riders Bruno Bonhuil and Fabio Barchitta who both crashed, but for some unknown reason no race officials or doctors intervened. It was fellow rider Virginio Ferrari who stopped his bike and came to Palazesse's aid but, Palazzese was already dead having sustained massive chest injuries.
A monument stands in his honor in the Italian city of Alba Adriatica, where Palazzese was born.
