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[SpiritofSenna]

ENTER THE WORLD OF FORMULA ONE!




Above: The "Fab Four" from left to right: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet ; between them they would win no less than 11 World Championships and totally dominate Formula One for over 12 years.


Where legends are born...


Hi to all the F1 fans here at Middle East Motorsports!

Over the next weeks and months I'll take you all on a voyage through the history of Formula One motorsport to explore and (hopefully) learn about some of the greatest drivers ever to sit behind the wheeel of a formula one car...

You all know about... the Schumacher's and the Hakkinens...maybe you've even heard about the Mansell's and the Prosts?

But what about the Jim Clarks or the Juan Manual Fangio's? or even the
"Prince of Speed" and "The Rat"?

If anyone has any requests on a driver you'd like to know more about I'll be only to happy to delve into my archives and post a special profile of them

Driver Profile:

No1: "The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" (Please Scroll Down...)

No.2: Gilles Villeneuve "The Prince of Speed" (Coming Soon....)

[SpiritofSenna]

Here is the first of my posts on the legends of Formula One; starting off with a driver from Brazil named Ayrton Senna....
I hope you enjoy it



"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna"



Ayrton Senna was born Ayrton Senna da Silva on the 21st of March, 1960 in Brazil to the son of a wealthy Sao' Paulo businessman, Milton Da Silva. He grew up in a secure and comfortable family environment but to say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth may be going too far. His parents disciplined him well, and ensured he was protected from the harsher realities of life out in the big sprawling industrial city that was Sao' Paulo, where the super-rich and the very poor lived together - where huge skyscrapers jostled with the slums or favelas in the Sao Paulo sunshine.



At the age of only four years old his father built Ayrton a go-kart and gave it to him on his birthday, not knowing that he had started his son on his path for life.



Obsessed with becoming a racer, the boy ceaselessly apllied himself to developing and perfecting his natural ability. Everyone noted how quiet and intense Ayrton seemed, even as a youngster. His sister Viviane Senna would recall many years later how even a family trip out shopping with Ayrton to buy new trainers would be treated with clinical analysis...

"He would carefully inspect each pair in the store...slowly and meticulously running his hands over the tread and the stitches to look for faults or mistakes. When he finally selected a pair he liked he sat down and methodically relaced and retied the laces till he was absolutely satisfied with them....We all thought it was too much for a young child to spend so much time on such a thing but Ayrton was not like the other boys...

And then he would stand up...running on the spot and stretching his legs to feel the shoes grip his feet...then suddenly he was off! running up and down the shop to the amazement of all the customers then stopping abruptly with his feet together skidding along the floor.. "I like these ones...good grip" Ayrton said




Above: Ayrton with his father Milton Da Silva

Milton da SIlva noted this obsessive behaviour and disciplined his son warning him that if his monthly school reports fell short of his marks, there was to be no karting for a month!

It didn't dampen the young boys spirits though...his mind was set....Ayrton would be a World Champion one day....

Ayrton made his race debut in July, 1973 at the tender age of only 13; starting in the 100cc category (where he would remain for the first few years of racing) and won his first ever kart race! The crowd watched in amazment as this skinny boy raced round the karting track; while using his left hand to grip the steering wheel, he would use his right hand to reach behind his seat and cover the air-intake on the straights to give more power to the engine



After easily winning the Brazilian and South American Karting Championships, Ayrton then decided to have a crack at the Karting World Championship, which was held at Le-Mans in 1977 and then at Estoril in Portugal two years later. He managed sixth first time round and finished runnr-up to a Dutchman called Peter Koene in 1979, having been defeated by a complex points system which placed an emphasis on the two best results out of three finals. He tried one final time the following year in 1980, fiercely determined to achieve his goal, but once again could only manage second place.

It was the one World Title that eluded Ayrton but after eight long years honing his racing abilities and technique he was ready to move on:
To Europe and Car Racing!

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[SpiritofSenna]

"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" - Part 2:




Above: Ayrton's wife Lilliane watches her husband prepare on the grid

Ayrton's exploits in the Karting Championships had not gone unnoticed, but he knew that in order to progress, he would have to uproot himself away from his family and the country he adored and leave for Europe and the prestigious Formula Ford Series in Britain. He was 21 and married to his childhood sweetheart, a young girl named Lilliane. Although only just newlyweds, she supported her husband's wishes and in 1981 he beat a path to Ralph Firman's door. Firman was the team owner of a Formula Ford 1600 racing team and took Ayrton on for his first full season of real motor-racing.

(Do any of you guys remember an F1 driver called Ralph Firman who was driving for Jordan a couple of seasons back? Well he is Ralph Firman's son! lol...anyway)

Ayrton's mindset had to adapt to his new European surroundings, the cold wet and gloomy environment of England that he now found himself in was a far cry from the heat and glorious tropical sunshine of his native Brazil.

The first thing he decided to do was to remain slighly secretive about his real identity so as not to embarass his family if word got out back home that he was a racing driver now; for racing purposes he droppd his paternal family surname of "Da Silva", preferring to be known simply by his mother Neyde's family surname of "Senna". Hence Ayrton Senna was born!

Ayrton, in his Van Diemen RF-81Ford, won only his third race and continued the season with a string of (what would later become one of his hallmarks) pole positions.



Although Ayrton took the checquered flag 12 times out of the 20 race meetings, personally things were not as easy as it seemed. Life in rural England had taken it's toll on his marriage and at the end of the season in 1981, Ayrton returned to Brazil in the winter and almost turned his back on motor-racing completely.

It was just a hard fact of life that, even at this lowly level of motor-racing, the potential to rise up through the formula's were rewarded, it seemed, on financial resources as much as sheer talent.



1981 : Ayrton Senna in his Formula Ford overalls - Look, No Sponsors!

There was talk of him going into the family business with his father and learning about cattle in order to help manage their huge Brazilian cattle ranch in Goiana.



But, supported by his father, Ayrton was fiercely determined and refused point-blank to admit defeat.....he raised the finance and returned to England for the 1982 season - Alone...

Later in his career Ayrton reflected on this decision:

"I just couldn't resist the attraction of a steering wheel and a racing car...up to that point I had raced largely for fun and, if I had not come back to England, I would probably have continued racing, just as a hobby in Brazil.."

Ayrton had expected to graduate to Formula Three (only one level before Formula One!) but he didn't have the resources so he decided to run in Formula Ford 2000, entered by Rushden Green Racing.



His performances that year in 1982 made his results the previous year in FF1600 pale into absolute insignificance. This time he won 21 out of 27 races that he took part in, including a magnificent drive in front of all the F1 Teams at Zolder (Belgium), Hockenheim ( in Germany) and the fabulous Osterreichring at Austria.

People in the know were undoubtedly impressed, and even Frank Williams and Ron Dennis of Maclaren were sitting up and taking notice of this young talent.

However, the more cautious among them were saying...

"Wait till he gets to Formula 3, then it will be different..."

It wasn't; at the very end of the season he arranged a drive in a West Racing Ralt at a televised event at Thruxton, England. Starting from pole position, he won magnificently and from that day on the name of Ayrton Senna was on everyone's lips!




The following year for Ayrton Senna was his final stepping stone to the dream he had waited for all his life - FORMULA ONE! but first he would have to pass the penultimate test of the British Formula 3 Championship.

Formula Three was a taste of the big league....bigger more organised teams, faster machinery (Ralt RT3-Toyotas), new pressure from the media spotlights and an intense battle for sponsorship money but not least of all there were all the other hugely competitive and talented racing drivers - who were ALL there to beat him!

And so 1983 it turned out, dear readers, was a long, gruelling hard-fought season for the 23 year-old Ayrton Senna. This was serious stuff he was racing in now, not the walkovers of previous formulae...



It was the year long battle with rising British star Martin Brundle (of British ITV-F1 commentary fame! ) in particular that history remember's now. The season was full of spectacular accidents and shunts between the two of them, a result of Ayrton's absolute refusal to accept second-best, which did not always endear him to the crowd....

Below: Ayrton and Martin Brundle inspect the wreckage of their crashed cars!




Here is an audio clip of Ayrton Senna in Formula Three with commentary by the untouchable Murray Walker!

AUDIO: Click HERE to listen to Ayrton Senna in Formula 3 with Murray Walker!



[Above Left : Ayrton Senna leads from Martin Brundle (blue car) in Formula Three


The Brazilian pipped his English rival to the title at the very last race at Thruxton, which was broadcast on British TV and took the title!



Above: Ayrton Senna is crowned the 1983 Formula Three Champion, with Martin Brundle disappointed at second place to the right

At last he was Formula Three Champion!

When asked later about the value of Formula Three (or F3000 in his later years), Ayrton rejected the idea that this junior category was limited by a lack of power and too much grip:

"No no...it teaches you discipline, experience, how to behave from a technical point of view. It teaches you how to drive with economy of effort."

But there was no time to rest on his laurels....

Formula One was Calling....

Below: Ayrton Senna on his way to becoming the newly crowned F3 Champion at Thruxton, 1983.

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[SpiritofSenna]

"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" - Part 3:


Ayrton's mercurial performances in Formula Ford and Formula Three meant that there was a queue of people lining up for his services and fierce commitment from such an intense, concentrated young man.

The top teams of the day were Ferrari, Renault, Williams, MacLaren but especially the innovative Brabham-BMW ("Yaay!" I can hear Beemer say! ) with whom another Brazilian, Nelson Piquet had won the 1983 title the year before.

Bernie Ecclestone (who in those days was the Team Manager and Owner of Brabham) was keen to have Ayrton alongside Piquet, but due to conflicting sponsorship arrangements (and perhaps a slightly nervy Piquet!) this was not possible

Ayrton did however in the closed season, manage to personally arrange a private test session with the Williams Team which Frank Williams agreed to hold; this was mainly in order that Ayrton might gain some valuable experience and time behind the wheel of a real Formula One car, and then perhaps he could evaluate his next move into Formula One.



Above: Ayrton Senna samples the Williams FW08C at Donnington Park, 1983.

The session in the Williams car astounded everyone....Ayrton had been given Keke Rosberg's Williams FW08C Ford, the fastest racing car he had ever been in and no-one expected what was to follow next..
Ayrton started off slowly at first...simply getting a feel for the car in what were damp conditions early on. The second lap was a bit faster...and then Ayrton put his foot down!

His best lap time that day was nearly a second faster than Rosberg's best time at that same track! Yes, that's right Guys, almost ONE SECOND quicker...and Rosberg was no slouch either (He was nicknamed the original "Flying Finn")

The Williams Team were even more shocked when Ayrton came into the pits at the end of the session, climbed out of the car and then proceeded to tell Frank Williams himself ways to improve the Williams!

Below: The as-yet unemployed Ayrton tells Frank Williams how to improve his OWN car!




Below: Ayrton gets a feel for a formula one car! (RIGHT CLICK on the pic and select "Show Picture" if you can't see it!)



There was never a possibility of Ayrton joining Williams, since both their drivers - Finnish Keke Rosberg and Frenchman Jacques Lafitte both had ongoing contracts, but Frank Williams would not forget Ayrton Senna for many years...

Eventually Ayrton shrewdly decided to join the newly formed Toleman-Hart Team (which would be roughly the equivalent of Minardi today) This was for several reasons: firstly he preferred to make his debut with a smaller team to keep the pressure on himself to a minimum as he learnt the ropes of Formula One and secondly if the chance was there (especially in the wet) Ayrton could then display his abilities and punch above his weight.



And so the 1984 Season was OFF! and Ayrton made his F1 debut in his home nation of Brazil at Jacarepagua. The Brazilian fans did't really know him then because Nelson Piquet in the mighty BMW powered Brabham (with over 1000BHP!) was the reigning World Champion and Sennas race ended on lap 8 when his turbo boost pressure encounterd problms.

It was not until the soaking wet sixth round at a drenched Monaco circuit that the legend of Ayrton Senna really begins...



The Monaco Grand Prix of 1984 was a complete wash-out, literally! It was the wettest GP ever at the Principality.

Ayrton had qualified a miraculous 13th on the grid but the conditions were just a joke! The tunnel underneath the Hotel corner was leaking like a sieve and huge pools of water covered the circuit everywhere!

THIS was Senna's chance to prove himself!

With almost zero visibility in his visor Senna splashed through the gloom and mist, steadily picking up the pace and picked his way through the backmarkers...By lap 16 out of the 78 race distance he was up to THIRD! right behind Niki Lauda's Maclaren!

Here's what happened next....

FILM: Click HERE to see Senna at Monaco in 1984!

FILM: Click HERE to see Senna at Monaco in 1984 - Part 2

It only took Ayrton another three laps to pass the Austrian Double World Champion, after which he set off after the legendary "Professor" himself - Alain Prost!

Meanwhile Prost, known for his dislike of wet racing, was waving frantically at the Race Officials to stop the race!

Senna had driven to within seven seconds of Prost at the 30-lap mark but the rain intensified even further...and on lap 33 the red flags came out to signal the race had been stopped. Prost saw the chequered flag and pulled over on the pit straight and Ayrton crossed the line before him!

However the celebrations for the Toleman Team were short, the quick-thinking Prost knew that should the red flag be waved the race order is taken on the lap BEFORE the chequered flag....

Senna and the whole Toleman Team felt cheated, but a point had been proved in spectacular style - Senna was the new sensation!

Below: Ayrton Senna shows his disappointment at being cheated of his first victory...but he would catch Alain the next time!




Monaco was the highlight of the season for Senna, he finished equal ninth place in the Championship after a series of engine failures and accidents.




Above: Ayrton Senna flies by in qualifying for the Nurburgring GP



Above: Senna smashes his car to pieces in a first-lap crash at the 1984 Nurburgring Grand Prix


His next headache was a controversial contract disagreement with Toleman in which Senna was blamed. Ayrton may have made his mark in his first full F1 season but now we saw his ruthless side.

Without notifing the Toleman team boss Alex Hawkridge, he signed for the Lotus Team and was horrified when he was suspended from the Italian Grand Prix for doing so.

The famous ground-breaking JPS Lotus Team Manager Peter Warr offered Ayrton a contract and he jumped on it!

For 1985 Ayrton would be driving the JPS Lotus 97T Renault Turbo!

Below: Ayrton Senna's giant-killing Toleman spits fire as he sails round Monaco

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[SpiritofSenna]

"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" - Part 4:




Team Lotus had wanted Ayrton to join them for the previous 1984 season but their top driver under contract then was the steely Nigel Mansell, who voiced opposition to having Ayrton as his team mate. Nigel left Lotus at the end of the season for the Williams-Honda Team and so the way had been paved for Ayrton to finally join a top team.

Ayrton's first season at Team JPS Lotus was not without its problems however. Driving a Formula One car in those days was only for the bravest, fittest and most talented drivers.

This period in the early to mid-eighties in Formula One was the "Turbo Era", and Nelson Piquet was in fact the first F1 World Champion to win the title in a Turbo- powered Brabham car in 1984. (The BMW four-cylinder unit which powered Nelson Piquet to victory in 1983 produced 1250 HP with certainty, and optimists even spoke of 1300 and 1400 horsepower!)

However, an F1 race in those days was quite different to one that you'd see today; I think I should explain....



Above: Ayrton Senna in his gorgeous black and gold JPS Lotus-Renault !

A Formula One car in 1985 would be low-fuelled and its engine perhaps given a slight tweaking for qualifying. Once qualified, the car would then normally be fuelled to capacity! , thats right - filled to the very top of the tank because there were no re-fuelling stops!

Firstly there was your glorious turbocharged F1 engine to get to grips with; with the turbo activated at the right time by pressing a "Turbo Boost" button on your steering wheel for a surge of extra revs (usually on a long straight) to pass another car in his slipstream.

TECHNICAL Background: Turbochargers

Turbochargers are a type of forced induction system. They compress the air flowing into the engine. The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine squeeze more air into a cylinder, and more air means that more fuel can be added. Therefore, you get more power from each explosion in each cylinder.

A turbocharged engine produces more power overall than the same engine without the charging. This can significantly improve the power-to-weight ratio for the engine and thus increses the car's speed!

In order to achieve this boost, the turbocharger uses the exhaust flow from the engine to spin a turbine, which in turn spins an air pump. The turbine in the turbocharger spins at speeds of up to 150,000 rotations per minute (rpm) - that's about 30 times faster than most car engines can go. And since it is hooked up to the exhaust, the temperatures in the turbine are also very high! (which is why turbo-related engine failure was so common at F1 races in the mid-eighties.)

Below: Senna on the grid in the cockpit of his Lotus)



Above: The cockpit of Ayrton's JPS Lotus-Renault V6 Turbo



Secondly, along with this came the problem of fuel consumption; a fine balance between gaining an advantage by using your turbo and making sure you didn't overuse it during the race for fear that you would simply run out of fuel! (No fuel stops were allowed, remember?)

Thirdly there was no small matter of your manual transmission (YES MANUAL! I love this part) Gearbox! .. This meant literally thousands of gearchanges at a race meeting and at Monaco it must have felt like Hell on Earth!

The regulations for the 1985 season as set down by FISA (The Governing Body that controlled F1 before the FIA stepped in) were as follows:
Refuelling during the races was banned and limitations were also placed on the mechanical equipment too; with a limit of 220 litre fuel-tanks, the teams were forced to utilise the novel idea of eletronic fuel-management systems. This would be decisive in the championship, as many teams were not capable of controlling fuel consumption without losing speed.

Ayrton would have to master all of this new technology and he would have to learn fast! becasue his team-mate at JPS Lotus for 1985 was an Italian driver named Elio De Angelis, who was already a Grand Prix winner in his own right!



Above: Ayrton discusses race tactics with his new team-mate Elio De Angelis

But the world would not have to wait for long to see Ayrton's real natural talent prove itself on a race track; at only the second round in Portugal, Estoril the nest milestone in Ayrton Senna's career was written

Estoril that year was another cold and very rainy affair, and Ayrton qualified on pole position for the race. In a dominating drive of wet-weather brilliance Senna totally destroyed the rest of the field! Flying round in the spray as if the road was bone-dry Senna led, lap after lap, whilst established drivers like Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost aqua-planed and slid off in the slippery conditions

Below: Ayrton Senna drives to his first GP victory at Estoril, 1985!





Here are a few film clips...

FILM: Click HERE to watch what happened at Estoril, 1985

(Scroll down and click on "Video's" near the bottom on the left hand side then click on the THIRD picture on the top row)

Listen to Ayrton's own point of view of the race HERE:

FILM: Ayrton's commentary of Estoril, 1985 - Part1

FILM: Ayrtons commentary of Estoril, 1985 - Part2

FILM: Ayrtons commentary of Estoril, 1985 - Part3

FILM: Ayrtons commentary of Estoril, 1985 - Part4

It was here at Lotus, where Ayrton Senna would spend three seasons of his 10-year career; he won once more in the 1985 season at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and finished 4th in the World Chapionship.

The 1986 season was a further progression; Lotus's Cheif Designer Frenchman Gerard Ducarouge had put together the new Lotus 98T which, powered by the latest Renault EF16 V6, was now equipped with a pneumatic valve-closing system that allowed the engine speed to be increased from 11,000 to 12,500 RPM.

1986 was also the year in which Ayrton started to firmly set his sights on the big boys... Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and the Champion Alain Prost! It was Prost that Ayrton regarded as the greatest driver of the era, and from this time on he would seize every possibilty to challenge him for victory.

However 1986 it turned out was a three-way battle fdor the championship between these three great drivers: Ayrtons Lotus was simply not competitive enough to fight for the Championship. He did add two further victories to his record though; at the US Grand Prix in Detroit and a nail-biting final duel with Nigel Mansell at Jerez in Spain! One of THE closest finishes in modern Grand Prix history!

FILM: Click HERE to watch the finale at Jerez - Senna Vs. Mansell!

FILM: Click HERE to watch the finale at Jerez - Senna Vs. Mansell - Part2

(Click on "Videos" on the left side of the menu...then click on the first row and the FOURTH picture)

But 1986 was not to be....Alain Prost finished the season as Champion on 70 points while Ayrton was fourth on 55. By the end of the season Senna had reached something of a turning point in his career; he had been in F1 for three whole seasons now and four GP wins was not a fair reflection of his abilities he felt.

The 1987 season heralded a new Honda engine for Lotus, partly in exchange for Senna's new Japanese tema-mate Satoru Nakajima, but the results did not change.

The new yellow liveried Camel Honda Lotus car matched Ayrton's helmet but not his aspirations and he soon realised that the Honda turbo's of Williams were definitely the cars to beat. He believed he was the best so he deserved to drive the best....

In fact Ayrton only won one single race in the whole season but it was to be the neginning of a love affair and a record number of victories at MONACO!

There was another famous incident at Spa, when Senna weaved in front of Nigel Mansell and they both spun off. Senna was out but Mansell was able to get going again; later out of public view (there has NEVER been a photo of this!) Nigel grabbed Ayrton by the neck and warned him never to repeat the move! It certainly wasn't the first time these two legendary drivers would rub shoulders together

Below: Ayrton prepares himself for the Monaco GP




Click HERE to see Ayrton in his Lotus at his first Monaco win!

It was at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim that summer in 1987 that a worldwide media frenzy of rumours exploded !

"Ayrton Senna would be driving for McLaren ! "

"Ayrton Senna is going to be Alain Prost's team-mate !"





Ayrton Senna had been nominated in private discussions with Ron Dennis by Alain Prost [himself, as his personal choice of team-mate with which to help the McLaren Team improve and beat the opposition.

And so there they were; the established Master and the talented Apprentice, standing next to eachother at a press conference in Monza:




Little did Ron Dennis or Alain Prost realise exactly what kind of "MAGIC!" they were about to unleash on Formula One and the World....

Below: 1987, Monza: Ayrton Senna, now twenty seven years old, tries to put the media attention of his move to McLaren aside and focus for the race......

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[SpiritofSenna]

"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" - Part 4:

McLaren - The Dawn of World War 3 !





Ayrton joined Alain Prost at the McLaren team in 1988 to great fanfare. But the team and its Managing Director Ron Dennis in particular had made a big gamble. It is always difficult to have two top drivers in a formula one team because usually there is an understanding that there is a "Number 1" driver and the second driver acts as a back-up. The first driver in any team will therefore be given all the very latest equipment and receive the benefits of any car developments first.

However, in 1988 Ron Dennis made it clear to the whole F1 fraternity that there would be No number 1 driver at McLaren - Prost and Senna would be allowed to race eachother !

The other new addition to the McLaren Team for the 1988 season is something that many people forget over the sensational arrival of Senna that year. Tired of the perpetually hostile (sometimes even nasty!) environment at the Williams Team between rivals Nigel Mansell and World Champion Nelson Piquet, and eager to have Alain Prost as one of theirs, the Honda Motor Company had decided to join McLaren.

It was another year of regulation changes as well. The teams that used turbo engines were restricted to use only a 1500cc V6 with a maximum boost of 2.5-bars. This, together with the universal 540kg maximum weight and a 150 litre fuel-tank, meant that McLaren had some decisions to make

McLaren had to decide wether to go with this turbo option or introduce their new 3.5 litre atmospheric V10. The decision was made; simulations showed that even with the new restrictions of reduced boost and smaller fuel tanks, the TURBO was the better option!

And so the McLaren MP4/4 (McLaren Project 4/4) was born!

Below: Inside the cockpit of the McLaren Honda MP4/4 (see the gearshift on the right? )



Below: The mighty Honda engine in the back of the 1988 Mclaren - Who knew what kind of dreams it would power?



And so, dear readers, fate had been set; it was at the wheel of the MP4/4 that Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna would write one of the most outstanding chapters in Formula One history.

Ayrton Senna soon settled into the team; he could now challenge the mighty Alain Prost directly both on and off the track and immediately set about making his challenge for the World Championship. The atmosphere in the McLaren garage in 88' was one of intense competition but also of mutual respect; for Prost knew all about Senna; his fiery determination, his deep-thinking analytical appraoch to racing and his ruthless will to win!

Their F1 rivals (Ferrari in particular) were impotent spectators and could only watch as the titanic season-long struggle between the two white and red McLaren cars completely crushed all opposition in their wake.

It was not only the finesse of Prost's and Senna's driving that created such a gap between themselves and the rest but the seemingly endless stream of input from each driver to their race engineers that helped to constanlty improve and fine-tune the car.

Below: Alain and Ayrton plan their domination of the World Championship!




Ayrton in particular was now a man possesed; his natural gift of driving a racing car fast was backed up by what Ron Dennis would later call Senna's "Total Recall". During testing at a given circuit, Ayrton would go out and do 10-20 laps in the McLaren then come in again to analyse the telemetry with the mechanics and engineers.



Above: Senna discusses the McLaren car on the pitwall


Peter Warr, Senna's boss at Team Lotus remembers this vividly:

"Ayrton had the awesome ability to somehow separate his mind from the physical requirements of driving a racing car; the huge G-loads and forces under breaking , the sheer physical strength required to turn the wheel and a pulse rate of over 200 beats per minute in some cases. But somehow Ayrton could detach himself away from the stresses that his body was under in the car that his mind was fully functional even on a qualyfying lap.

He could come into the garage and relay back to the mechanics at Renault and Honda in the most minute detail about gershifts, rev levels and speeds on each and every corner - it was just incredible; because what he was telling the engineers was exactly what they were reading off the data-printer!"



Above: Ayrton in the cockpit for his first race!


The season started off slowly for Ayrton; Alain began with a flawless clear-cut victory in Rio while Ayrton was disqualified for changing cars on the grid. Stil, his fantastic fightback from 21st at the very back of the grid to second place after 20 laps before the black flag came out showed the McLaren Team what they could expect of him.

Ayrton won the second GP at Imola magnificently, his first for the team, with Prost completing the 1-2 in second. It was obvious even from then as these two supreme racers lapped car after car chasing the other, that the 1988 World Champion would be driving a McLaren - but WHICH ONE?

On the twists and turns of Monaco the riddle went deeper still; Ayrton put on a staggering display in practice and qualifying to leave Prost one and a half seconds behind him! Just imagine a one and a half second gap in dry qualifying session today - it was sensational!

It was rather unsettling for Alain who said he was no longer prepared to take that kind of risk at the wheel; driving full speed all the time had its limits.

In the race the Brazilian was just as outstanding but with a 53-second lead in his pocket back to Alain he decided to back off, suddenly lost his concentration and his solo display ended in the guardrails at Portier before the tunnel. Alain went on to an untroubled fourth victory in Monaco, while a mortified Ayrton walked away from the circuit and locked himself away in his hotel room!

Below: Ayrton's wrecked McLaren at Monaco, 1988:



It was a key race of the year for many reasons: Prost was sure he could beat Senna by the sheer excellence of his race tactics and smooth driving, while Senna was still totally convinced that this little mistake shouldn't stop him driving as fast as he possibly could to leave Prost behind.

Prost won the next GP at Mexico but Senna came back and won at Canada and USA. The next race at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, Prost silenced everyone who were saying that he was being beaten by his team-mate. After nearly throwing everything away with a bungled pitstop, Alain followed Senna like a shadow until he passed him tryng to lap a slower car by diving between them both!




At this stage in the World Championship, Alain had a 15-point lead over Ayrton.

==================================================================

Now I must mention to you all at this point that in 1988 the points system was very different from what we have today:

Points were only awarded for the first six places as follows:

• 1st Position : 9 Points
• 2nd Position: 6 points
• 3rd Position: 4 points
• 4th place: 3 points
• 5th place: 2 points
• 6th place: 1 point

Not only were points awarded only to the top 6 but also the 16-race Championship was decided on the driver's BEST 11 finishes out of 16 Races (ie: His remaining 5 results were ignored!) CONFUSED?!?

Then consider this:

Imagine you were an F1 driver in 1988:

Say for example, you won 6 of the 16 races and came second in the 10 remaining races

Then say your nearest rival wins 10 races but fails to finish the other 6 and crashes out in all of them!

( Now Check the 1988 Points Table as shown above:)

You would expect your Final Total to be a wonderful 114 points, yes? (54 + 60) and the other Guy to be on 90 Points with YOU as World Champion right? (10x9)

WRONG!

Actually, you would only have 84 Points (54+30 -only 5 of your 2nd places counts) and the other guy would still be on 90 Points! HE would be the World Champion!

(LOL - Compare that situation to todays 2005 points system: you would be on 140 Points with the other guy left trailing on only 90! )

==================================================================

ANYWAY! enough with the maths class..where was I..?..oh yes..

At this stage in the World Championship, Alain had a 15-point lead over Ayrton but then the Brazilian won five races in a row during the summer. It was at Spa in Belgium after Senna had totally dominated from start to finish, that even Prost admitted he deserved to be champion that year.

McLaren now had won 11 out of the 11 races so far! Their domination was not so bad though because everyone was so fascinated watching these two titans battle eachother race after race!

Senna lost McLaren its perfect 100% winning record at Monza when he impatiently crashed out while trying to lap a slower car.

It was then at Estoril in Portugal that the very fist cracks started to appear in the Senna-Prost relationship....Alain eased Ayrton to the outside of the track at the start so that he could try and pass him on the inside at the first corner.
Always the proud (some would say arrogant) Brazilian, Senna didn't like this at all and when Prost tried to pass him next time round he blatantly squeezed the Frenchman towards the pitwall at over 290 KMH!


FILM: Click HERE to see what happened at Estoril, 1988 !

(Scroll down to McLaren Honda 1988-92 - and click on the FOURTH picture down)

There were only two races remaining now - Japan and Australia; however Senna was the favourite and ahead on points - Prost would have to win both races if he was to become Champion!

On the race start at Japan, Ayrton made a disasterous start and Alain Prost surged into the lead! Ayrton had nearly stalled his engine but managed to bump-start his car as it rolled down the slope of the Suzuka straight!

He was wayyy back in 14th place by the first corner but furiously battled back over the next 20 laps, desperate to regain his chance of destiny! He was suddenly only a few lengths behind Alain Prost and waited for the pitstraight on lap 27 to take his chance!

Alain, tried in vain to fend off this attack but was trying to lap an awkward backmarker...Ayrton pressed the "Boost" button and slowly eased past Alain...

The race was won in great style...with Ayrton's 8 wins to Prosts 7 it meant only one thing....

Ayrton Senna was the New World Champion!



Above: Ayrton Senna Da Silva, with tears in his eyes, lifts the trophy at Japan to finally become the World Champion!


The 1989 season was almost a repeat performance of 1988 but things were starting to disintegrate for Ron Dennis' "Dream Team"

The McLaren car that year was a lot more difficult to control but Ayrton and Alain battled through it all. The tension within the team was already starting to become uneasy; technical briefings for the two drivers had developed into a form of psychological warfare and could last 3 or 4 hours - neither man was prepared to leave before the other.

Below: The McLaren Machine: Despite all the politics, the team were still the best in the world



But the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola was the breaking point for Alain Prost.

Senna had suggested to Alain before the race that they shouldn't attack eachother until after the first corner at Tosa, so as to avoid any silly collisions. Alain duly agreed. Off the start Prost got the lead ahead of Ayrton but then came the horrific accident of Gerhard Berger at the infamous Tamburello curve where his Ferrari smashed into the wall and burst into FLAMES!

Gerhard recovered fully but there was a restart; imagine Prost's amazement when Ayrton this time slipped inside him going into the first corner!

Below: The moment World War Three breaks out!




Senna may not have admitted that he had broken the pact but Alain Prost (for whom honesty was always supremely important) was STUNNED!
Prost then made some comment to the French media to exploit what he saw as a potential weakness in Senna.

Ayrton soon heard this and was FURIOUS !

He announced in front of all the World's media the following:
"From now on Prost is just another enemy to me like all the rest...and I am prepared to do anything and everything in my power to beat him.."

Ron Dennis' "Dream Team" had just been blown to pieces.....

From that point on the two men totally ignored eachother in the pits and the motorhomes and technical meetings were done through their own race engineers.

The most memorable of Ayrton's victories that year in 1989 came at Monaco; where he was simply in a class of his own.....It was here at Monaco that Senna spoke about how, during a practice lap, he would be so intensely focused that he stepped out of the car to see how the car was behaving. Then he woud go round again and perfect the time...

FILM - Click HERE to watch Senna in qualifying at Monaco!
(Many Thanks to my bro Jaouhar for this film! )


Ayrton's season wasn't going welll; although he had won the first three races he then failed to finish the next four. In the meantime Alain Prost had won three of these and now had a commanding lead in the race for the Championship.



Above: A typical scene from the 1989 season; Prost and Senna battling eachother for victory!

But Prost was not happy either; he was absolutely convinced that Ayrton was getting preferential treatment from the Japanese Honda mechanics and he was proved correct!

Ayrton had secretly tested new specifications for the Honda V10 engine in Japan without his knowledge!

Alain announced the unthinkable - He would not be driving for McLaren in 1990! The intense mental and physical pressures of working in the same team with Ayrton Senna had just become unbearable for even a great driver such as himself and the atmosphere between the two of them had turned to pure poison.

That year in 1989 Ayrton Senna earned his reputation as a driver who would stop at nothing to win. It was just the sight of that yellow helmet in a driver's mirror that terrified everyone, such was his intense and ruthless desire to win...

It all came down to a title-decider once again at Suzuka, Japan.
Ayrton's qualifying lap was simply electrifying and put him on pole positon...

FILM - "Click HERE to watch Ayrton's qualifying lap at Suzuka, 1989 !"

Alain Prost knew this all too well about Ayrton's obsessive character, so on the eve of the Japanese GP, he announced that he would not be opening the door any more to Ayrton on the track.

It was a prophetic statement...

The race at Suzuka was electrifying; Senna had been caught out at the green lights and Prost started to pull away!

Unknown to Senna, Prost had found a small aerodynamic advantage in testing and was using it to full effect!

For Ayrton, who always wanted to know everything about everything on his car, it was too much to even contemplate - he didn't know about this!

The lap times started to fall further as Alain Prost started to pump in times a rate of second a lap faster than Senna!

Ayrton totally lost his grip on reality...Despite his disadvantage, Ayrton furiously drove his way in pursuit of Prost, and after a few unsuccessful attempts he decided to make his move!

On the 47th lap of 53, Ayrton risked all on a late-breaking manouevre at the final Casio chicane....BUT Prost was true to his word! he calmly turned into the corner and the two cars collided !

BANGG !!!



Both cars had ended up stationary on the slip road....





Alain Prost then calmly unbuckled his harness, got out of his car, took off his gloves and walked away. For him it was straightforward; HE was World Champion

For Senna it was far from over; getting a push from the Japanese marshalls (who thought his car was in a dangerous position) he used the slight slope to bump-start his engine, short-cut the chicane and then drive the rest of the lap with a broken nose cone. He pitted for a new nose then went out again, passing the new leader Nannini at the very same chicane and won the race!

Below: Senna stops for a new nose!




But it was not to be....he was disqualified while going up to the podium for his overtaking move on Prost and also for short-cutting the chicane.

Whatever and Whoever's fault it was I think is irrelevant, but it is one of the most fantastical moments in Formula One History...

A few days later Senna launched a furious attack at FISA and especially the President, Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre, who Ayrton accused of manipulating the Championship in favour of Prost, his fellow French countryman.

Balestre retaliated by ridiculously withdrawing his Superlicence (banning Ayrton from driving in F1 completely) and fining him $100,000 - officially for Ayrton's dangerous driving !

Senna refused to apologise for his driving at Suzuka in 1989 and poor Ron Dennis had to pay Ayrton's fine to keep him in the team!

The 1990 season was almost a repeat performance of 1989; Prost had joined Ferrari now and he was moulding the team around his every desire.

The two were almost equal in the Championship table by the time the Japanese GP came round again.

For Senna the sums were easy; he had a 9-point lead over Prost and one more victory. If the Professor didn't finish the race he would be World Champion for the second time.

Senna claimed yet another pole position but only by 3 tenths and he knew that Alain Prost's fabulous Ferrari chassis would be quicker than his in race trim.

The official's next move was dumbfounding. Beyond all common sense, they announced that pole position would be on the INSIDE lane on the dirty side of the track!

It was something Ayrton had already seen and earlier in the week he had formally requested that the pole position be on the outside lane, which even the gentlemanly Alain Prost agreed to. The Race Organisers (together with FISA) flatly refuesed his appeals...

To add insult to injury they also announced that any overtaking moves down the pit straight were illegal. The circuit's only overtaking opportunity had been taken away from Ayrton.

Well, you can just imagine how FURIOUS he was!

It was too late now, Senna swore that Prost wouldn't get any advantage...

It was too late....The time-bomb was ticking.....

Alain Prost DID indeed get a better start than Senna up the straight, but Ayrton kept his foot firmly planted to the floor as the first corner fast-approached!




CRUNCH!!!!!!




CRASH!!!!!!




In what even Senna's hardcore fans could see as only a suicidal attempt to pass going at over 240 KM/H , he rammed his McLaren into Prosts Ferrari !

Their race lasted 15 seconds exactly; both cars went off the track and ended up in the gravel trap. Senna was World Champion for a Second Time.

He won his last Championship for McLaren in 1991 after a hard-fought battle with Nigel Mansell at Williams The most memorable victory for Ayrton would come at Brazil in front of his fanatical fans, a race he had been trying for so long to win...

Ayrton had injured his shoulder in a jet-skiing accident only the previous week and had it heavily strapped up n the cockpit; he was prepared to do everything in his power to win in his home country.[/color]

At the start Senna took the lead but Berger's car caught fire at the back and so Mansell, Patrese and Alesi overtook him. Amazingly the fire was blown out and Berger was able to keep going. Further back Prost was stuck behind Piquet. Alain pitted early for new tyres and dropped to 11th. Mansell's attack on Senna began to fade on lap 22 and he pitted. The stop was a disaster as Nigel fished for gears. Senna pitted and so rejoined in the lead. When Patrese, Berger and Alesi pitted Mansell went back to second with Piquet third, the Brazilian going non-stop as usual. Mansell caught Senna while further back Patrese overtook Piquet and Berger closed in on the Benetton.

On lap 50 Mansell suddenly arrived in the pits with a puncture. He rejoined but the gap to Senna was half a minute. Mansell charged back but then spun off when the gearbox caught him out.

Senna's gearbox also suddenly began doing strange things; he had lost the first FOUR GEARS! and decided to put it in sixth gear and drive around without changing gear for the last seven laps. Patrese closed in but he had gearbox trouble as well and third-placed Berger was struggling with a sticking throttle.

And then it began to rain. The leading three struggled on to the line in terrible conditions but Senna took the flag a couple of seconds ahead of Patrese. The top six were all within 23 seconds of him: Patrese being followed home by Berger, Prost, Piquet and Alesi.

Senna was totally exhausted; the agonising pain from his shoulder had left his body completely numb and he nearly passed out.
He had to be helped from the car but the chants of

"Ole OleOleOle - SENNAA ! SENNAA!"
from his adoring Brazilians washed over him in ecstacy...and he burst into tears on the podium...

It had been a magnificently brave victory!

Below: Ayrton Senna, totally exhausted and crying tears of joy, finally wins his home race! ( Can you see the blue strapping on his injured shoulder!)




But time was telling on the Honda engine and McLaren's fortunes were on a downward slope after 1991.

Going into the 1992 Season, Alain Prost announced that he would be taking a year out from F1 so Ayrton must have been relieved and perhaps thought it would be a Fourth Title chance...

It wasn't...

The 1992 season was a Nigel Mansell white-wash in his simply unbeatable Williams, except for Monaco, which turned out to be one of the most exciting finishes to a Grand Prix EVER!

The 78-lap 1992 Monaco Grand Prix was one of the most exciting formula one races ever..

Mansell was leading the race comfortably in his Williams ahead of Ayrton Senna when suddenly on lap 71 he felt something was wrong at the rear of the car - a loose wheelnut!

He immediately dived into the pits but emerged five seconds behind Senna!

Nigel was driving the mighty Williams FW14-B and it was streets ahead of Senna's underpowered Honda-MacLaren, which at this point was running on almost the thread of the tyres as he hadn't pitted yet- so desperate for his first win of the year!

He caught Senna at an amazing rate and for the last four laps the two cars ran together; Mansell exploring every (and I do mean EVERY! ) possible way to pass the Brazilian and Senna making sure that no gaps were left.

Senna stayed ahead and they crossed the line separated by two-tenths of a second....it was breathtaking to watch!


Below: Nigel "Il Leone" Mansell hunts down Ayrton Senna, Monaco 1992.



FILM - Click HERE to watch the Mansell Vs. Senna battle at Monaco 1992 ! WOW !

Ayrton's 1993 season was a starnge one; his McLaren now had a very underpowered Ford engine but still "Magic" had a few surprises in sotre for anyone who doubted he had lost his touch. Ayrton made no secret about his distaste for the 1993 McLaren and even announced that he would drive for Williams for NOTHING! But Alain refused to have Ayrton joining him and refused to even entertain any prospect of teaming up with his old nemesis

It was at Donnington in the wet that Ayrton scored perhaps his greatest victory; it was nothing short of breath-taking...here is what happened at the start - remember he qualified in seventh place!


FILM - Click HERE to watch Senna on the first lap of the European GP at Donnington, 1993 !

(Click on the first film on the page)



Above: Ayrton Senna in one of the greatest ever demonstrations of wet-weather driving wins at Donnington!

AUDIO - Click HERE to listen to Ayrton's opinion about DonningtonGP in 1993

(To Save: Right click link and "Save Target As")

It was to be his last year at McLaren in 1993; Alain Prost narrowly won the Championship that year and announced his retirement soon afterwards...

For Ayrton, it was a curious feeling....he had now lost the challenge of his greatest competitor in Alain Prost, who had provided all the motivation to push himself to the limit throughout his career.

Who would he be racing against now?
Their glory years at McLaren were never to be forgotten though; they were now firmly established as F1 legends...

Ayrtons path was suddenly clear; with Prost in retirement, at last he could join the Williams Team that Frank Williams had wanted for so long. Ayrton would, once again, have a competitive car that matched his abilites...

Below: The Greatest rivalry in the history of Formula One: France's Alain Prost Vs. Brazilian Ayrton Senna Da Silva

Attached Image

[SpiritofSenna]

"The Life and Times of Ayrton Senna" - Part 6:

Williams-Renault: The last moments of "Magic"




Above: Ayrton Senna in the fateful Williams FW16


Once again, it was all set out clearly in black and white for the start of the 1994 season that Ayrton would do even better than Alain Prost had done at Williams the year before. The Championship would be a one-horse-race with Senna now using Renault power, wouldn't it?

It was not as simple as that; as soon as winter testing started on the FW16 Ayrton, with his tremendous technical feel, found the new Williams a nervous twitchy car with unpredictable road-handling.


Below: Ayrton's first press meeting with Damon Hill in Williams overalls, Estoril 1994.




The overall package was fine but Senna the perfectionist was concerned by a couple of little things. In comparison to the FW15 that took Prost to the Title in 1993, the FW16 had none of the now outlawed electronic driving aids, and while the Renault engine was going from strength to strength, the car itself was tricky to drive.




Above: Ayrton tries to get to grips with his new Willaims FW15.

Those first impressions were confirmed at the first Grand Prix at Brazil, where Ayrton went off in the race after trying to catch Michael Schumacher in his Benetton. The Brazilian had been a bit heavy on the throttle coming out of the final corner and spun off - stalling the engine.

Below: The Ultimate F1 Battle: Ayrton Senna racing with Michael Schumacher at Brazil




At the new Pacific Grand Prix, held at Aida in Japan, Ayrton yet again was unable to make the most of his pole position being eliminated by Nicola Larini's Ferrari at the very first corner!




As well as the 20 points that now separated Senna from Schumacher after just two rounds, it was the car's behaviour over the bumps that Ayrton was concerned about; It was too sensitive and very demanding to drive.

For the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, the FW16 underwent suspension modifications and took on a new wing to try to solve the road-handling problem.

Ayton had good reason to be optimistic at Imola, he had always done well there, winning five times at the Italian circuit but out in practice on the Friday he shocked the world yet again...

He was doing an onboard commentary for French Television and he knew that Alain Prost would be there in the studio back in France....

This is what the French viewers heardat the start of Ayrton's lap:

"This is a very special hello to my dear friend Alain - we all miss you Alain!"

It was a moment Alain would never forget; their relationship, soured by so many years of rivalry and war, had come to be at peace. In fact at the end of the 1993 season the two great rivals had joked together at the final race in Australia about their times together - it was a happy ending at the end for the two of them...

Below: Prost and Senna - friends again! on the podium at Adelaide, 1993




Although he had just taken his 65th pole position of his career, Senna was in a state of shock by Saturday evening.

Earlier that day, a young Austrian driver named Roland Ratzenberger had been attempting to qualfy his Simtek and crashed heavily into the wall at the Tosa corner - killing him instantly

The whole F1 world was in shock; it had been over 10 years since Riccardo Paletti had been killed at the 1982 Canadian GP that there had been a fatality in Formula One.

Ayrton had been watching the session in the Williams garage and was beside himself, it was the sensitive gentler side of Ayrton that felt tragedy now; all thoughts of competition and racing now left his mind...

To add to that terrible tragedy, his fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello had had an awful crash in the same session; flying off the ground at the last chicane and smashed into the fence, breakng his arm.




On the grid for the start of the race, Ayrton Senna was a changed man; gone was the fierce competitor aiming for a perfect start looking up towards the first corner.

Below: Ayrton in his Williams cockpit at Imola, 1994.




Ayrton seeemed to be in a trance, his troubled mind was certainly uncomfortable and apprehensive....


Below: Ayton in deep thought on the grid at Imola just before the race starts....







Once again, like so many times before, those green lights came on...the professional in him took over and Ayrton made a perfect start, with Michael Schumacher in hot pursuit !

Below: The start of the ImolaGP, 1994




Behind them a nightmare was unfolding !
JJ Lehto had stalled his Benetton and Pedro Lamy's Lotus ploughed into the back of him! Both drivers were unhurt though thank goodness.

For the first time ever, instead of stopping the race, a safety car was brought out to hold the field while the debris was cleared up. For the next six-laps the cars slowly went past the wreckage and when race control thought the time was right, sent the signal out to start again!

Below: The safety car comes out...



Ayrton Senna, like so many times before, went on the attack again, with Schumacher sticking to him like a shadow. That was how the two cars completed the first lap.

The next lap broadcast on television was taken from a camera onboard Ayrton Senna's Williams; here it is....


FILM - Click HERE .....


As soon as the two were past the pit straight, they plunged into the ultra-quick left hander at Tamburello at over 280 km/hour. All of a sudden, watched live on television around the world, Senna's Williams inexplicably left the track and flew head-on into a concrete wall !

The impact was shattering; when the wrecked car finally came to a halt, that famous yellow helmet gave a small movement in the cockpit and then was still.

The race was stopped immediately; Ayrton was taken immediately by helicopter to a hospital in Bologna but was pronounced dead later that afternoon.

"E Morto! E Morto!" went the cry around the crowded stands of Imola during the race....Formula One was in total shock.

The great Ayrton Senna was dead; it was unthinkable to everyone that a driver of his talent would lose control of his car in such a devastating way....

(In the later investigation into the crash it was found that Ayrton's chassis had survived quite well, and his carbon-fibre monocoque was actually intact. The conclusion was that his steering column had broken while he was trying to turn into Tamburello, and the car had crashed into the wall.

Ayrton might even have survived this huge impact had it not been for his right front suspension; which snapped up onto the wall and sent a deadly shard straight through the black visor on his helmet.)


The reaction back home in Brazil was something else; the entire country went into a state of deep despair for the loos of their beloved hero and a three-day official State of Mourning was announced...




The funeral was attended by every Brazilian racing driver (including Emerson Fittipaldi, Rubens Barrichello and Roberto Moreno) and no less than 12 Formula One drivers from past and present, among them were Gerhard Berger (Ayrton's good friend and former teammate at McLaren), Ayrton's friend Thierry Boutsen, Ron Dennis of McLaren, Frank Williams, Damon Hill (Ayrton's teammate at Williams) Michele Alboreto, Sir Jackie Stewart, Johnny Herbert and Derek Warwick.

But leading them all holding Ayrton's coffin was none other than "The Professor" himself - Alain Prost !!....




When the body was placed in State at Sao Paulo's cathedral, the lights were dimly lit in sombre mood.

It was like this until Alain Prost leant over Ayrton's body and whispered a few words in French to his old friend that the flashlights of the worlds media and camaramen burst out in noise...it was to be the image that would fly around the world onto the covers of nearly every newspaper and magazine that week.




Michael Schumacher was also invited to attend by Ayrton's family but he thought it would be unwise considering that some Brazilians might blame HIM for pushing Ayrton to his crash while trying to get away. After the race at Imola , Michael burst into tears in the Benetton garage

This was not at all the case though, and Michael has said in later years that he regretted not going in the end.

And so it is Michael Schumacher that everyone knows now as the established multi-World Champion. It was not until the Monza Grand Prix in 2000 though that we would all realise just how much Michael thought about Ayrton in his private moments....

AUDIO - The Monza 2000 Press Conference (Right-click "Save As" )


The saddest thought of all is that we and the rest of the world were denied the awesome prospect of watching Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher fight eachother on the racetrack for a bit longer....

Can you imagine what kind of races we would have seen?


Below: The Impossible Dream




==================================================================

Some quotes from Ayrton Senna


AYRTON Senna was under no illusions as to the dangers of motor racing, or the costs of victory. He was also known for his forthright views:

On the need to change the regulations and bring character back to motor racing (1992):

``The machines have taken away the character and it is the character that the sponsors and public are looking for. At the top, you have a few characters of conflicting personality; the rest, without good results, don't have any credibility. We must reduce costs so that we return to an era where the emphasis is on people not computers.''

On his disillusion with the computer trend in motor racing (1992):

``I want to be challenged by my own limits and by someone who is made of the same skin and bone and where the difference is between brain and experience and adaptation to the course. I do not want to be challenged by someone else's computer. If I give 100 per cent to my driving, which is my hobby as well as my profession, I can compete with anyone, but not computers.''

On Eddie Irvine, just before he punched the Irishman at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1993:

``He came past like a lunatic. He shouldn't be driving in Formula One if he can't respect other drivers. He carried on like he didn't give a damn about anybody else. His attitude was `screw them all'.''

On his relationship with God (1994):

``If you have God on your side, everything becomes clear. I have a blessing from Him. But, of course, I can get hurt or killed as anyone can. This knowledge, this need for self-preservation, is what keeps you together.''

On improving his relationship with other drivers:

``I'm not the best person in the world to do it but I try hard as often as I can. I will talk if I can get my point of view across. If you establish better communication with other drivers, you can talk about things and can speak freely. You must have respect for each other and belief that there is integrity in the competition. If you have doubts, you become very aggressive.''

On winning the 1994 world championship:

``Saying I am going to win the championship is easy but actually achieving it will be very difficult. Having won three championships, I know how difficult it is to win. I have a lot to learn at Williams and Damon (Hill) will be stronger than last year.''

On life after motor racing:

``I am trying to find new activities, a source of motivation for when I've finished. I believe I will be able to find some real alternatives in business.''

On flipping a coin with Ron Dennis, his McLaren team manager, about the terms for his three-year contract:

``Ron wouldn't give in, so he said: `OK, let's throw a coin'. It was pretty stupid, and I didn't have to take the bet, but I said: `OK'. The result cost me $2 million over the three-year period.''

On his motivation (1993):

``The most important thing for me is to win. The few seconds of pleasure I get when I overtake or gain a pole position or win a race is my motivation.''

On his marriage to Liliane de Vasconcelos, which lasted less than a year:

``I don't think of it as a mistake. I consider it to have been a very precious experience. We didn't have children, so no one else was hurt. We have both continued with our lives with no ill effects. It was simply that she wasn't made for me nor I for her.''

On friendship:

``Most of my friends are from five to ten years ago. I don't have new friends but I get on well with the young people in Formula One.''

On the ideal partner:

``She has to be very, very understanding as I'm not an easy person to live with. She also has to be extremely intelligent so there is a healthy respect and balance in the relationship. I'm not easy on myself and I don't like people who are not demanding on themselves.''

On driving on the road:

``Driving is such an easy thing for me to do that on the road I end up not concentrating. That's when you make silly mistakes.''

On Nigel Mansell after a collision in the 1987 Belgian Grand Prix:

``When a man holds you round the throat, I don't think he has come to apologise.''

On the power of prayer (1990):

``There is no end to the knowledge you can get or the understanding or the peace by going deeper and deeper. I pray regularly, not because it is a habit but because it has innovated my life. I hardly go to church because the only time I feel really good in a church is when there's nobody there.''

On fear:

``To survive in grand prix racing, you need to be afraid. Fear is an important feeling. It helps you to race longer and live longer.''

On his fears for the 1994 season:

``The cars are very fast and difficult to drive. It's going to be a season with lots accidents and I'll risk saying we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen.''

On his fears for the race at Imola on the day before his fatal accident:

``My car reacts a bit nervously on this kind of surface. It stems from the special aerodynamics but it's also got to do with a difficulty in the suspension.''

On being told by another driver that he (Senna) had been known to weave from side to side to balk someone overtaking:

``But I am Senna.''


==================================================================


BONUS: Ayrton Senna Tribute FILMS !

Below here are some great Formula One tribute films I found on the net while writing this post.


Click HERE for Ayrton Senna Tribute Film 1 - "Goodbye"

Click HERE for Ayrton Senna Tribute Film 2 - "The Boy is Mine"

(This is from a Russian site Click on the third film icon down)

SPECIAL Middle East Motorsports BONUS FILMS!

Here is one of a series of the most wonderful Formula One films ever made, by a good friend of mine called Marcus, who used to have a great site until the FIA closed him down - so this is a thank you from me to him - Thanks Marcus!

Download these NOW if you haven't already got them: They are a "MUST HAVE" for your Collections, Guys!

The first film is a history of the Monaco Grand Prix; Ayrton holds the record here still with SIX victories, and you'll see why!

Click HERE to watch Ayrton Senna in "A History of the Monaco Grand Prix" (Over 70 Megs!)

(To Save: Right click where it says "Click Here To Play Video" and then click "Save Target As")

Here is another film showing all the drama of the Japanese GP at Suzuka complete with Ayrton and Alain's battles!

Click HERE to watch Ayrton Senna in "A History of the Japanese Grand Prix" (Over 70 Megs!)

(To Save: Right click where it says "Click Here To Play Video" and then click "Save Target As")

==================================================================


Below: The Ayrton Senna Memorial at Imola




================= THE END! ================





Below: The private life of Ayrton

Attached Image

[Jaouhar]

طريق حياة سينا منذ طفولته الى وفاءه غنية بلا حداث الحلوة والمرة البعض منها دخل التاريخ في سجل مسابقة السيارات الصنف الواحد
ايام المجد كانت القابه العالمية التى انتزعها ظد بروست و منسال و اشدها عندم هزم امام بروست تلك السنة التى قدم فيها اعتظاره للجامعةالعالمية او ان يمسح اسمه من ظمن المسابقين في الموسم القادم و تراكمت عليه الظغود بعد ذالك حتي ادت به الى النهايه الحزينه ويبق سينالمحبين السباق انسان متواظع ووفيء لعمله

[SpiritofSenna]

Thank God!

This is taking longer than I thought...

ok..my profile on Ayrton Senna (parts 1 to 5) is up to 1994 and covers his career up to the days at Williams.

Part 6 will be short but there will be a few VERY special bonuses I'll try to link in there.

All the best Guys,
Wa'Salaam,
SpiritofSenna

[Jaouhar]

thank you Senna for work that you aprés makes that you finished with Senna you can make some thing on the other controls of Formul 1 thus you made a book in this forum which retrasse the life of certain pilot which has to mark the history of the formul 1

[Kompakt]

Thanks for finishing up the last part Senna.. I have a lot of reading to do next week

[SpiritofSenna]

PHEW! Well, the Ayrton Senna profile is now finished. I've included loads of film clips in there too, but I cant list them all in the other films forum (sorry!) I would definitely recommend the last ones in part6 though they are simply amazing to watch.

With this weight lifted off now at last I can concentrate on the next profile!

At the moment I can't decide between Nigel Mansell Jim Clark or the legendary Gilles Villeneuve...

If you Guys prefer one in particular or maybe another request let me know!
I'll try to sort something out for you.

We'll see! "stay tuned" I'll try to start Number2 in about a fortnight or so....

[JP-Montoya]

Gilles villeneuve, if possible,

[SpiritofSenna]

Gilles Villeneuve: "The Prince of Speed"


<Part 1: Under Construction....>

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[Jaouhar]

hello Senna merci for the subject chosen on Villeneuve it is a true demanche champion to pass I was even a race of formul Renault has Zolder in Belgium j' have ponser has him I am returned on the place of sound accident..et I have ponser has.... laying to him the race in the méme place a similar accident occurs with the méme place with the car which of ecolle in air and attery with the taunaux ones to finish on the low dimensions of piste..quelque measure or Ferrari of Villeneuve it is arreter... I have ponser which the pilot and dead... not it is alive and not blaiser... veiled for the memory of small prince...