Senna - 30 years later
Discussion
Practice day at Kartódromo Ayrton Senna (circa 2000). Engine tuned by "Tchê" (Senna's first mechanic and mentor):
I have to say I was not a super fan of Senna until before his death. When I was karting I used to go to Tchê's shop and would spend hours talking to him about karting but also about Senna. There I could see a helmet Senna gifted Tchê after winning the F1 world championship, engines that Senna had used, and many photos of Senna during his karting time and from his F1 time just visiting Tchê's shop.
The story I remember the most is that on his first wet race, Senna was terrible, spinning multiple times, and ending up last. Senna was so angry with himself that later he would go to Interlagos EVERYDAY that was raining to practice as much as he could.
I have to say I was not a super fan of Senna until before his death. When I was karting I used to go to Tchê's shop and would spend hours talking to him about karting but also about Senna. There I could see a helmet Senna gifted Tchê after winning the F1 world championship, engines that Senna had used, and many photos of Senna during his karting time and from his F1 time just visiting Tchê's shop.
The story I remember the most is that on his first wet race, Senna was terrible, spinning multiple times, and ending up last. Senna was so angry with himself that later he would go to Interlagos EVERYDAY that was raining to practice as much as he could.
Edited by Kart16 on Wednesday 1st May 14:44
TO73074E said:
There is a really nice article on the BBC website today about Sid Watkins and Ayrton Senna. It seemed like they had a really close, father / son relationship.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c1ejpl7k2lqo
A nice piece, where the article says "The next day, Senna, leading the race in his Williams, lost control at 190mph at the Tamburello corner and crashed into the wall" - i'd have perhaps ventured to say "...his car became uncontrollable" given my unshakable belief the steering column broke, but that's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c1ejpl7k2lqo
I feel it's a shame that by the time Ayrton came along, drivers no longer competed in various motorsport disciplines; it would have been awesome to see him competing in the early days of Group A touring cars and doing more sports car racing - just imagine Senna dancing on the pedals in an old Sierra RS500 touring car...
CKY said:
A nice piece, where the article says "The next day, Senna, leading the race in his Williams, lost control at 190mph at the Tamburello corner and crashed into the wall" - i'd have perhaps ventured to say "...his car became uncontrollable" given my unshakable belief the steering column broke, but that's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.
It's interesting how the accident draws different conclusions. I firmly believe that the car's aero stalled and/or it bottomed out, leading to him losing control and crashing. The steering column break was a consequence, rather than a cause.We'll never know for sure.
I remember the day very well aswell. I'd been to a car show and it was one of the few races I therefore missed. Before the days of digital recording, I figured I'd just watch the highlights on BBC2 later that day.
Of course, nothing was shown of the race (I've still never seen the race to this day) and a tribute was hosted by Steve Rider hosting, IINM.
I was never a Senna super-fan and don't generally have feelings of grief for people I don't know personally. But I respected his achievements and talent enormously, perhaps more so as I've got older. He's unquestionably one of the most talented drivers in the sport, in my mind the most naturally gifted of his era.
He was flawed, but then a lot of geniuses (and I don't use that word lightly) are.
30 years......where has that gone?
StevieBee said:
What's strange is that I wasn't particularly a fan of his at the time.
Same but I think perhaps due to youth (I was barely a teenager when he died) and being a fan of his British rivals accounted for that. He was the opposition as it were.That said, his death was notable. We didn’t have sky (sky used to be posh!) and the bbc feed cut away quite soon after the accident. My uncle, who watched it on Eurosport, called my dad that evening. This itself is notable, but the topic of conversation was what he’d seen of the aftermath shown in greater detail.
I listened to my radio non stop for updates. I was playing Geoff crammond’s f1 when it came through.
I do wish I’d paid more attention to him as a racer rather than the opponent of the guy I cheered for.
Had a very interesting day at the weekend with Steve Nichols, Neil Trundle and Matthew Jeffreys talking about the MP4/4 and the 1988 season. Really interesting hearing about the frantic build process leading up to the Imola test and the differences between the Senna and Prost driving styles.
I think we spent 4 or 5 hours looking at chassis 3 which has been immaculately prepared.
I think we spent 4 or 5 hours looking at chassis 3 which has been immaculately prepared.
In case you weren't aware, Netflix are doing a series on Senna. To be released sometime this year.
The trailer is excellent: https://youtu.be/LT7h6sUeUhU?si=jHFC7MEPlUcwxNYs
The trailer is excellent: https://youtu.be/LT7h6sUeUhU?si=jHFC7MEPlUcwxNYs
Weekends were tennis at Paddington Rec, followed by Bish-Bosh-Brioche and Bass Shandy. Then F1. I was sitting in one of my best friend's front room in County Kilburn watching the events unfold. When we saw the helicopter shot from overhead and saw Senna's ominous head "twitch" we both looked at each other in shock - I don't know, but we both had the same thought, that that was Senna letting go.
Sadly, my friend - one of the co-founders of the "Ten of the Best" (TOTB) series - is also no longer with us.
RIP. Both great men.
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