A Tribute To Ayrton Senna da Silva

I was feeling a little sad and depressed today, and it was in this miserable mood when I remembered the untimely death of one, if not the greatest of the idols of my youth: The master racing driver Ayrton Senna da Silva. Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on the 21st of March 1960, in a wealthy family in Sao Paulo. Shy and awkward as a boy, his father noticed 4 year old Ayrton's passion and determination behind the wheel of his first go kart, a tiny 1 hp thing. An ordinary student, Senna lived for motor racing, going every weekend to the local park for a drive and by the time he was 8, driving the family car. At 10, his father gave him his first "real" 100cc cart and at 13, could start to compete in Brazil. Spurred on in 1972 by Brazil's first F1 champion, Fittipaldi, and the Interlagos circuit becoming a permanent fixture in the FIA racing calendar Senna looked to Europe to continue his racing dreams. After escalating through the Brazilian carting ranks, Senna was racing Formula Ford 1600cc cars in Britain in 1981 where his driving prowess, especially in the wet where he eclipsed all competition, was noted. After a 4 month retirement due to his trouble in finding sposors at higher eschelons of the sport, Senna broke in to Formula 3 as a pre season favourite along with British driver (and now comentating formerly along with John Walker) Martin Brundle. The Championship was decided by the final race of the season between the two; Senna took pole and in the end won comfortably. Serious discussions were held on the team to accomodate Senna in Formula 1 for the 1984 season. Team Brabham were very interested, but Senna's interest was vetoed by champion Piquet. In the end Senna settled for second-tier team Toleman. In a shitbox car (that was still capable of 340+ km/h, but shitboxiness is relative) there was little Senna could do......until it rained. At Monaco in rain he pressed his authority over the field and was phenomenally quicker than everyone else. He passed leader Alain Prost on lap 32 having been 7.4 seconds behind at the start of lap 31. Unfortunately the race was stopped at the end of lap 31 but the legend was born. Modern F1 racing has become so sterilised and orchestrated that the glory days of the 70's and 80's seem another world away. This is the time when the turbo charger ruled, where drivers demanded the authority they deserved and blamed the car for everything. When Ron Dennis at McLaren shunned Sega sponsorship because he didn't want a blue hedgehog on his red and white cars and where in the McLaren garage, tape was cut with a scapel. When cars ran out of fuel DURING the race. When motor racing was acceptably dangerous. The same race at Monaco, Prost in the lead came upon the stalled Teo Fabi. Just manging to swerve around the car, Prost hit one of the track marshalls. Shaken and not knowing whether the man was still alive Prost slowed down. Mansell, a much harder man, seized the opportunity and overtook Prost, before spinning out shortly afterwards. When Enzo Ferrari's motto: "Aerodynamics are for people who can't make engines" caused raised eyebrows, but was healthily respected. Here are the four champions together. From left to right: Senna, Prost, Mansell, Piquet Senna moved to Lotus in 1985 and won his first race in the wet at Estoril and followed it with another at Spa. Not even he could restore Lotus to their former glory and joined McLaren in 1988 with Prost. Ironically Prost did not use his veto power against the Brazilian and instead welcomed him. That happy relationship was short lived. He and Prost fought tooth and nail and he won his first Championship that year. The next, 1989, Prost won, despite Senna having more wins. The two would be on the front row of the grid nearly every single race. The sheer animosity between the two led to Prost leaving for Williams in 1990, and Senna won back to back titles in 1990 and 1991 competing in fierce battles against the Williams' of Prost and Mansell. Eventually loss of Honda engines and the rise of Renault Bennetton would dull McLaren's ability to compete. In 1994 he was offered a position at Williams which he eagerly took, but surprisingly came 2nd in both of the opening races of the season to a young Michael Schumacher in a dominant Bennetton. Tragically, he died at the infamous Tamburello corner whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix, from a suspected steering failure. The whole Grand Prix community (and me) grieved for a lost wonder and he was given a state funeral in Sao Paulo where a national day of mourning was declared. Senna, with his dedication to win and sheer audacity, his awesome technical skill with an underperforming car and absolute mastery in the wet are sorely missed in today's Schumacher dominated era. One can only imagine the entertainment Senna and Schumacher could have given us as two unstoppable personalities on a single track fighting for the same Championship. Ayrton Senna 1960 - 1994 Lest We Forget