RE: Pic of The Week: Sensational Senna

[predding]

Thanks for the pic - my screensaver/background now. And the Lotus. Keep em coming, am printing for display behind my Minichamps 1/18 and 1/43 collection - awesome. Made my comments on him and the movie on the original trailer article.

[jake15919]

tim200sx said:

He was a great driver no doubt, but imo his passing has led a lot of people to look on him with rose-tinted spectacles...
If a certain German was no longer with us, we would consider Adelaide '94 as example of his brilliant ruthlessness and genius rather than him being a cnut

Edited by tim200sx on Friday 3rd September 13:16

'The German' will only be seen as the better driver when those who read his stats outnumber those who saw him race. Senna all day long.

[RobM77]

dinkel said:

This one is in my book explaining the term 'drive like you stole it':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlDS16YKZg

1m57 to 2m10 has long been one of my favourite NSX moments :-) Such lovely handling.

[Nickellarse]

His feet dance quicker than Jacko's. Same white socks as well.

[golders]

Mr Senna in a Red NSX, seriously working it round the bends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaWlKxVo1A&fea...

[BBS-LM]

I remember seeing in car footage of Senna footwork when driving the Mclaren around Monaco, and I was amazed at how fast he was on and off the peddles, his ability to hill and toe was a, WTF moment.

[BluePurpleRed]

gumsie said:

Moley RUFC said:

I cannot wait to see this film. In my time the greatest I ever saw. Pure, pure speed and ultimate car control. I always think that he would have been a great rally driver because his car control was almost inpossibly good in any condition and where it counted, on the limit. The first lap at Donnington in '93 was like a scripted film and when seen would have had people sitting in the cinema saying ''How likely is that to have happened, it wouldn't happen like that in real life''

Funny, that was exactly the lap that came to mind with me too. The only person who comes close to him and I do mean close, in terms of speed, (and ruthlessness), is/was Herr Schumacher - don't know what's happened to him this season.

Schumi was not my fav driver, but he is struggling now as he used to be able to get everything, and I mean pretty much everything out of a car, ONLY when he had hundreds of testing miles to do each week. He is out of form as not only has he had 3 years away, but also he can't do the incessant laps mid week like he wants to so it doesn't suit him as a driver to just jump in at the weekend and drive.

[ForzaGilles]

BBS-LM said:

I remember seeing in car footage of Senna footwork when driving the Mclaren around Monaco, and I was amazed at how fast he was on and off the peddles, his ability to hill and toe was a, WTF moment.

I'd love to see that. Anyone got a copy?

[RobM77]

ForzaGilles said:

BBS-LM said:

I remember seeing in car footage of Senna footwork when driving the Mclaren around Monaco, and I was amazed at how fast he was on and off the peddles, his ability to hill and toe was a, WTF moment.

I'd love to see that. Anyone got a copy?

Do bear in mind that every driver on the grid was doing exactly the same thing - their gearchange points would have overlapped almost exactly. What made Senna quick was not fast pedal work!

I don't have You Tube at work, but if you do a search for Senna on board at Monaco you're sure to find it - it's very famous footage.

[Curry Burns]

Ollieb7 said:

I rekon Kimi is better than Senna.

Seriously....trolls on a Senna topics....deserves a banning!!

[carinaman]

It was a bit poor of the Top Gear bit a few weeks ago that felt like out of place filler to me, not to mention the way Senna would repeatedly stab the accelerator pedal once past the apex.

Cadence braking? It seems his use of the accelerator was similar. Without trying to time the accelerator pedal prods with the car coming back down on the suspension obviously.

[AtWork]

I suspect it's probably similar with the rest of the F1 grid, but still, how relaxed does he look in that pic?!

[RobM77]

carinaman said:

Cadence braking? It seems his use of the accelerator was similar. Without trying to time the accelerator pedal prods with the car coming back down on the suspension obviously.

I've discussed that technique with a good number of people and nobody has a clue what he was up to I'd like to ask his race engineer. In a turbocharged car it may have been useful for keeping the turbos spooled up, but he did it in n/a cars as well, like the NSX in that video. He was blindingly quick for his whole career, so it must have had a purpose!

[senninha2]

Moley RUFC said:

........I cannot wait to see this film. In my time the greatest I ever saw. Pure, pure speed and ultimate car control. I always think that he would have been a great rally driver because his car control was almost inpossibly good in any condition and where it counted, on the limit...........

WRC drivers are IMO the pinnacle of car control. Add the natural ability of Senna and the potential for a World Champion in multiple disciplines was very real. You might find this an interesting read if you've not seen it before ...

regards, Paul

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/allarticles/276...

[Podie]

RobM77 said:

carinaman said:

Cadence braking? It seems his use of the accelerator was similar. Without trying to time the accelerator pedal prods with the car coming back down on the suspension obviously.

I've discussed that technique with a good number of people and nobody has a clue what he was up to I'd like to ask his race engineer. In a turbocharged car it may have been useful for keeping the turbos spooled up, but he did it in n/a cars as well, like the NSX in that video. He was blindingly quick for his whole career, so it must have had a purpose!

Last theory I read, was that it was his way of trying to find the limit of adhesion.

[RobM77]

Podie said:

RobM77 said:

carinaman said:

Cadence braking? It seems his use of the accelerator was similar. Without trying to time the accelerator pedal prods with the car coming back down on the suspension obviously.

I've discussed that technique with a good number of people and nobody has a clue what he was up to I'd like to ask his race engineer. In a turbocharged car it may have been useful for keeping the turbos spooled up, but he did it in n/a cars as well, like the NSX in that video. He was blindingly quick for his whole career, so it must have had a purpose!

Last theory I read, was that it was his way of trying to find the limit of adhesion.

I've heard it said before on web forums, but I'm not sure I buy that one. "The limit" is not a mysterious thing that's impossible to judge so you have to stab in the dark at it, you can feel quite clearly in a car as you approach the point of maximum adhesion, especially in a single seater on slicks. Any driver without that skill wouldn't make it beyond Formula Ford. Senna especially must have had an extraordinary feel for the limit because of his skill in the wet, in fact Brundle said that whilst most drivers need to work up to the limit in the first few tenths of each corner (and then feel it from then on), Senna just seemed to know instinctively, which disproves this "feeling the limit" theory straight away. If there's ever an "ask Martin Brundle" Q&A that'll be my question for him - "why did Senna do that?".

[Podie]

Fact and journalism aren't necessarily the same thing ;-)

Would love to know the truth though.


O/T - who remembers the cadence clutching thread?

[Schermerhorn]

HarryW said:

Lyons said:

He won the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix towing a trailer too!? Genius.

Well if that was the year our Nige was trying to get past his weaving machine then yes it was like his Williams was the trailer

1992.

[ferrisbueller]

Edited by ferrisbueller on Friday 3rd September 18:07

[carinaman]

ferrisbueller, thank you for that other pic. of Senna sat by the Lotus.

Edited by carinaman on Friday 3rd September 19:13