Senna's old F3 car: You Know You Want To

This Ralt RT3 is the first car Senna drove in Formula 3 and recently restored too. Why not?

The cult of Ayrton Senna is still very much alive. Proof is in the silly amount of money people are happy to pay for Senna memorabilia.

Witness the £70,000 recently paid for a used Senna crash helmet, or how about the outrageous £100,000 it costs for a Senna-soiled McLaren Honda race suit? The Tag watch once photographed being worn by the Brazilian? That'll be £40K please.

455kg, 165hp, 150mph - proper racing car

In that context splashing out around £150,000 on an actual Senna race-winning F3 race car sounds not only perfectly sensible but the bargain of the century. Better still, this is no museum piece but an FIA race-ready Ralt RT3 that's been subject to a £75,000 restoration.

In case you need a bit of relevance to tell you how and where the Ralt racer fits in the Senna biopic, let's rewind back to 1982.

Back then the 22 year-old Ayrton Senna was living as he raced - flat out. He'd moved to England in 1981, gotten married, separated, won the Formula Ford 1600 championship, then promptly announced his retirement and moved back to Brazil. Of course he quickly changed his mind and flew back to England to race (and win) the Formula Ford 2000 Championship before wisely signing to Dick Bennetts' West Surrey Racing (WSR) team to give the British Formula 3 series a go.

Now this will blow your mind but in the good old days if you won an F3 championship - or even came runner up - you would almost certainly be rewarded with an F1 drive. So back in '82 only one season of racing separated Senna from his life's goal - to compete in F1.

Feeling talented?

Everyone knew this and despite recognising his immense talent team boss Bennetts was nervous at how the young Brazilian would adapt to the faster race series' mixture of greater grip, power and real aero effect.

But Bennetts had a plan to help gently introduce him to what lay ahead. At the end of the '82 season, with second place in the championship safely in the bag Bennetts asked Enrique Mansilla if he'd mind politely sitting out the last race to let the young Senna cut his teeth with the big boys. Mansilla, the gentleman he was, agreed but what happened next was astonishing - even for Senna.

That's how the Brazilian and this car, chassis number 291, met. It wasn't luck that found Senna at WSR. Everyone knew the Ralt RT3s were the best cars in the championship, especially when they were powered by the 2.0-litre four-cylinder Toyota lump. Pushing out just 165hp, there were other lighter engines - but none as durable as the Japanese motor that channelled its power through the 5-speed Hewland 'box. Don't let that power output put you off either; weighing just 455kg, the RT3 topped out at over 150mph - much faster if you gathered up a good tow.

In a previous life...

Racing that weekend in November was at the fast and fearsome Thruxton circuit that rewards extreme acts of bravery and requires terrifying levels of commitment - qualities Senna had in spades driving Formula Fords. But how long would it take for him to adjust to RT3's higher limits?

The answer is less than a lap because Senna and #291 were made for each other. Not only did he nail pole, he won the race and racked up one of his trademark fastest laps.

It was the making of the beautiful relationship. For the next season he drove another car, a mildly updated RT3 and continued winning, racking up a mighty ten consecutive wins in the F3 series. But then it almost went very badly wrong for the Brazilian, thanks to a certain Martin Brundle.

Tired of constantly finishing second to Senna, Brundle suddenly got to grips with his identical Toyota-powered Ralt RT3 and he started to fly. Taking his first win at Silverstone halfway through the season, Brundle was so quick Senna fell off the circuit trying to keep up.

There are track day toys and then track day toys

Mentally rattled by his new competition, the next six races saw Senna crash three times as the pair battled and wrestled for the lead. After the season's first half of Senna dominance, suddenly the Brit was ahead in the championship by one single point.

The season culminated with a race where either Senna or Brundle could claim glory. The pressure on both drivers was off the scale. What followed was almost cruel.

Somehow Senna had exorcised his demons over the short break between races. When he climbed behind the wheel of his RT3 for the final time the pace he extracted was unbelievable. It must have been humiliating for poor Brundle. Senna drove like he had another 50hp and was simply too quick for the Brit to mount a challenge.

Well it has to be Thruxton first, right?

Not that it ultimately mattered for Brundle - both drivers scored a dream drive the next season - Brundle for Tyrrell and Senna for Toleman.

Today chassis 291, that was also campaigned by Gerhard Berger, is all that's left of Senna's time in F3 - the '83 car was scrapped after the season adding to its rarity.

Whoever buys it really should race it - it would a crime for it to be screwed on the wall beside an old race suit and smelly, sweat-soaked crash helmet - a far more fitting tribute would be racing it at this year's Monaco Historique on the old street circuit Senna loved so much.

RALT RT3 (1982)
Price: POA (est. £150K)
Why you should: A piece of Senna memorabilia that isn't poor value and will be incredible to drive.
Why you shouldn't: An expensive piece of Senna memorabilia if you don't want to drive it.

See the original advert here.

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