DOCSLIB.ORG

Ron Dennis's Memories of Ayrton Senna

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ron Dennis's Memories of Ayrton Senna 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article Published on April 27th 2019 Ron Dennis's memories of Ayrton Senna Ron Dennis and Ayrton Senna's Formula 1 careers became irrevocably entwined as the legendary Brazilian won his three titles with McLaren. In this feature from the Autosport archive, Dennis gives his personal take on an extraordinary driver and some incredible times By Jonathan Noble Motorsport.com F1 Editor In the build-up to the 25th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death, we're paying tribute to his achievements and reassessing his career with new articles and classic material from the Autosport archive. Five years ago, as Formula 1 marked 20 years without Senna, Jonathan Noble heard Ron Dennis's personal stories of working with the man who defined his time at the head of McLaren more than anyone else. classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 1/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article There are few people, if any at all, better qualified to talk about Ayrton Senna the racing driver than Ron Dennis, his boss at McLaren. As the 20th anniversary of the three-time world champion's death looms large, the Formula 1 world is diverting its gaze briefly from its current battles to ponder the life, impact and legacy of the man who many consider to have been the greatest grand prix driver of them all. It's Dennis's voice that perhaps carries the greatest resonance at moments like this. His and Senna's relationship was not just a successful sporting partnership - it went much deeper than that. "Some of the things in the Senna film, some of the people who talked, I'd say those guys were nothing. They had no relevance to Ayrton's life" Ron Dennis This was about a life journey. Under Dennis, Senna grew from F1 adolescent to grand prix superstar. Working with his driver, Dennis learned much about the passion, sacrifice and commitment that was required to succeed. But even now, after all these years since that fateful Imola weekend, Dennis still finds it hard to open up on the emotions that tore through him that day when Senna's life came to an end. And there is a certain frustration that others have been more willing to offer up their views. classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 2/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article "There is nothing more certain than that things happen that change your life," he says, reflecting on Imola 20 years ago. "At that moment, I just took a decision on the pitwall that I'm going to close down. There is no way you can share those things. "You can go colourful, wave your arms around and claim to have known him better than anyone else. And some of the things in the Senna film, some of the people who talked, I'd say those guys were nothing. They had no relevance to Ayrton's life. "They had no knowledge of Ayrton. And they sit there, talking in the movie, as if they were long-lost friends. It was not the way it was." Time has healed a little of Dennis's pain. Indeed some of his famous stories with Senna - like that coin toss to settle his wages when he joined McLaren, and the $10,000 chilli-eating bet in Mexico one year - have entered folklore and been repeated countless times. But what Dennis has not talked so openly about before was how he viewed the emotional aspects of his relationship with Senna - how their paths crossed, then parted, crossed again and then parted forever. Dennis is a firm believer in the human process of 'retrospective script writing' - where we fit events to a story to make it look like fate had determined a certain course of events. Fiction sometimes blurs reality. "You make the script fit the story afterwards," he says. "No one can dispute that that was the script, because reality proved it to be the case." classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 3/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article Dennis suggests that is exactly what happened to Senna in Monaco in 1988 after perhaps his most famous of qualifying laps. His view is that the driver's talk later of operating in the subconscious, of having a religious experience, was part of a revisionist viewpoint. "In reality, he was just a phenomenal racing driver," he says by way of a simpler explanation. Yet what's more interesting is that Dennis doesn't opt for such a rewrite of history when it comes to recalling his own initial encounters with Senna. For it would be all too easy - knowing how their careers would intertwine - to suggest destiny was always going to bring them together. In fact, Dennis's recollections of their first encounters are actually of being unimpressed by Senna's attitude - even though there was no doubt about just how special a talent he was. Following the young Brazilian's title successes in British and European Formula Ford 2000 in 1982, Dennis reached out to him. In return for a future contract option, he was ready to bankroll the driver's graduation to British Formula 3 for 1983. "I can't remember what he was asking for, whether he was asking for an option, or an F1 test drive, but I did say to him if you give me an option, I'll pay for your F3 season," explains Dennis. "But he made it very apparent, although not rudely, that he was not interested. "He had the ability and he wanted to be independent. I didn't exactly like it, but I did respect that." classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 4/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article The memories of that snub came rushing back to Dennis when Senna had a test for McLaren in the winter of 1983. "When he drove then, I thought to myself, I might just give you a bit of comeuppance - so I will not be too impressed with what you do in the car," says Dennis. "Even if I think it, I will not tell you it! "When he tested, he came across as very arrogant because he was very keen to get an advantage. He was making quite sure the car wasn't damaged by the other youngsters, and asking if he was going to have fresh tyres, etc. "You could see in him the 'I am always right' type. He was a very principled individual. "So he didn't appeal very much - he was quick but I wasn't that interested. He was too young to drive in our team, so it didn't really matter. We let him go to cut his teeth somewhere else." Fate would, of course, bring them together later. Dennis recalls he first noticed Senna again at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix - when the Brazilian in the Toleman was hunting down race leader Alain Prost's McLaren in the pouring rain before the race was halted early. classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 5/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article Four years later, Senna - by then a race winner for Lotus - was McLaren's golden boy as he embarked on an unforgettable era for the team, which began with his maiden world title in 1988. From being turned off by a few of Senna's personality traits, Dennis would grow to not only appreciate them but also take some on board as inspiration. "I raised my game because I could see the commitment he brought to his driving," he says. "Like in any situation, if someone demonstrates that you can try even harder, then you do. "He showed what he was prepared to do to achieve his objectives. And he raised my game. I think that you try to be as good as the person you are with. I liked his principles." "I reduced both of them to tears" Dennis tackles Prost and Senna after Imola 1989 Senna's years at McLaren would deliver highs, and lows, as well as some difficult times. There would be moments, too, when Dennis had to do what was right for the greater good of the team, even if it meant sacrificing some personal interest. He recalls after Senna and Prost's falling out at Imola in 1989, he flew to a Pembrey test to confront them about what had happened, and more especially express his annoyance that their relationship's collapse had blown into the media. "I am not proud of this story at all," says Dennis. "We had a Mercedes combi-bus with two bench seats facing each other that we sat on. And I was so angry because the drivers didn't need to be handling the media. "I went to Pembrey, and I'm no pussycat, as you know. I reduced both of them to tears - and the psychology was that if I can be the bad guy, and if I can make them hostile to me, then they would not be hostile to each other. "The hope was that they would join up, saying 'isn't Ron being tough?' That was a good way to force them together - by making me the point of focus." classicplus.autosport.com/tools/print.php 6/14 4/30/2019 AUTOSPORT.com - print article The damage was already done, though, and attempts by Dennis to manage the relationship between Senna and Prost ultimately failed in trying to get the two to see eye to eye. Their time as team-mates at McLaren was defined by animosity as competitors.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mclaren - the CARS
    McLAREN - THE CARS Copyright © 2011 Coterie Press Ltd/McLaren Group Ltd McLAREN - THE CARS INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION WILLIAM TAYLOR WILLIAM TAYLOR Bruce Leslie McLaren’s earliest competitive driving While he was learning how to compete at this level, the experiences came at the wheel of a highly modified 1929 Ulster period was of crucial importance to Bruce when it Austin Ulster, an open-topped version of Britain’s cheap came to gaining an understanding of the mechanical side and ubiquitous Austin Seven. Spurred on by his father, of the sport. As a result, by the early 1950s he was already Les, a skilled engineer and a keen motorsports a highly capable and ingenious mechanic, something he enthusiast, Bruce’s initiation into the relatively small ably demonstrated when the Ulster’s cylinder head community of New Zealand and Australian racing drivers eventually cracked. Rescuing a suitable replacement from took place at a hillclimb at Muriwai Beach in 1952. It a humble 1936 Austin Ruby saloon, he filled the combustion was about 25 miles from the McLaren family home in chambers with bronze which he then expertly ground to the Auckland, and happened to be part of their holiday appropriate shape using a rotary file. Once the engine was home. He had just turned 15. reassembled the Ulster proved good for 87mph, a 20 per cent improvement on its official quoted maximum of 72mph. The Ulster had already been in the family for almost three years, having been acquired by Les, in many pieces, for Thereafter such detail improvements came one after another.
    [Show full text]
  • EXCLUSIVE OPENING DAYS of the Mclaren VIENNA at MEGADENZEL in ERDBERG
    Media Information EMBARGOED: 16:34.BST, 24 May 2012 EXCLUSIVE OPENING DAYS OF THE McLAREN VIENNA AT MEGADENZEL IN ERDBERG McLaren Vienna opens new showroom at MEGADENZEL in Erdberg and presents the groundbreaking high performance McLaren MP4-12C Motorsport history up close – the original 1982 McLaren MP4/1B driven by triple Formula 1 drivers’ world champion Niki Lauda VIENNA, AUSTRIA (24th May 2012). There is a new attraction for sports car enthusiasts in Vienna: McLaren Vienna opens its new showroom at MEGADENZEL in Erdberg on Thursday, 24 May 2012. In the exclusive, high-tech oriented showroom, guests can experience the fascination of McLaren up close from 24th May 2012. In addition to the presentation of the first in a range of groundbreaking McLaren sports car - the McLaren MP4-12C - first customer vehicles are handed over to their new owners at the opening event. Furthermore, an original Formula One™ vehicle driven by Niki Lauda in 1982 will be on display, a reference to Austria’s long and glorious racing history with McLaren. The Denzel Group had been appointed to represent the brand in Austria in November 2011, when the MP4-12C was first introduced to Viennese customers at an exclusive viewing in Metastadt. “As a traditional sports car competence centre DENZEL is looking forward to representing the new sports car brand McLaren, not only in Austria, but also in the neighbouring Eastern European countries”, says Alfred Stadler, Chief Executive Officer of the Wolfgang Denzel Auto AG. “The new showroom is more than just the representation of a brand“, says Michael Röck, Managing Director of McLaren Vienna.
    [Show full text]
  • Lewis the Unbreakable
    IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PASSION ABU DHABI GP Issue 159 23 November 2014 Lewis the unbreakable LEADER 3 ON THE GRID BY JOE SAWARD 4 SNAPSHots 8 LEWIS HAMIltoN WORLD CHAMPION 20 IS MAttIAccI OUT AT FERRARI ? 22 DAMON HILL ON F1 SHOWDOWNS 25 FORMULA E 30 THE LA BAULE GRAND PRIX 38 THE SAMBA & TANGO CALENDAR 45 PETER NYGAARD’S 500TH GRAND PRIX 47 THE HACK LOOKS BACK 48 ABU DHABI - QUALIFYING REPORT 51 ABU DHABI - RACE REPORT 65 ABU DHABI - GP2/GP3 79 THE LAST LAP BY DAVID TREMAYNE 85 PARTING SHot 86 The award-winning Formula 1 e-magazine is brought to you by: David Tremayne | Joe Saward | Peter Nygaard With additional material from Mike Doodson | Michael Stirnberg © 2014 Morienval Press. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Morienval Press. WHO WE ARE... ...AND WHAT WE THINK DAVID TREMAYNE is a freelance motorsport writer whose clients include The Independent and The Independent on Sunday newspapers. A former editor and executive editor of Motoring News and Motor Sport, he is a veteran of 25 years of Grands Prix reportage, and the author of more than 40 books on motorsport. He is the only three-time winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Timo Makinen and Renault Awards for his books. His writing, on both current and historic issues, is notable for its soul and passion, together with a deep understanding of the sport and an encyclopaedic knowledge of its history.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Press Release
    PRESS RELEASE // FEBRUARY 2018 MCLAREN – RICHARD MILLE RETURN ON THE 55 YEARS OF EXISTENCE OF A F1 CHAMPION Luxury Swiss watch maker Richard Mille return on the history of one of the greatest Formula One racing team : McLaren. Today second most successful team in the championship history, the british company founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren has set mutiple records during its life. Return on 55 years of success. A HIGH SPEED RISE Although he initially intended to a sports career, his heart goes to an other famous sport in his home country : rugby. After an injury he gets interested with great success towards automotive sports. He mades his competitives debuts in 1958 and quickly establish himself as an amazing motorcycle driver. One year later, aged 22 years and 80 days, Bruce McLaren becomes the youngest ever racer in the history of Formula One to win a race : the United States Grand Prix. McLaren M2B THE EARLY STAGES OF MCLAREN In 1963, while still involved in the Cooper racing team, the champion founds the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing. It’s only in 1966, that he creates his own racing team and design his first F1 with the young engineer Robin Herb. Named M2 B, this vehicle will be presented this year at Rétromobile. McLaren competitive debuts aren’t successful nonetheless the ranking of the team at the end of the season is saved thanks to motorisations upgrades and a victory with a Ford GT40 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a great 1967 season, McLaren compete with a brand new car seen as the finest-looking Bruce McLaren M8D single-seater : the M7A.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Ebook ~ Ayrton Senna
    D7R7TWHJVMA9 // eBook // Ayrton Senna - McLaren (Hardback) A yrton Senna - McLaren (Hardback) Filesize: 4.22 MB Reviews A high quality ebook as well as the typeface employed was exciting to read. It is actually loaded with wisdom and knowledge You wont sense monotony at at any moment of the time (that's what catalogues are for concerning when you request me). (Declan Wiegand) DISCLAIMER | DMCA MMZYP2UYSL1H eBook > Ayrton Senna - McLaren (Hardback) AYRTON SENNA - MCLAREN (HARDBACK) To get Ayrton Senna - McLaren (Hardback) PDF, remember to click the link beneath and download the ebook or have access to additional information which might be related to AYRTON SENNA - MCLAREN (HARDBACK) ebook. Bonnier Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2014. Hardback. Condition: New. Language: English . Brand New Book. Legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna s intensity and commitment earned him a reputation as one of the biggest names in world sport. In his brief, fiery Grand Prix career, he won 41 races and three world championships. But it was his belief, passion and raw speed that made him a global superstar - and, at times, a dramatically controversial figure. Senna felt he was the best - and his results certainly backed up his belief. But the Brazilian s rivals - most notably his McLaren team-mate, Alain Prost - were aware that his self-belief could be contentious; his utter refusal to be beaten occasionally led to colourful consequences on the track. Senna s death at the San Marino Grand Prix on 1 May 1994 stunned the world. Many books have been written since that freak accident at the wheel of a Williams 20 years ago, but none captures the warm relationship he had with McLaren, the team with which he enjoyed his greatest successes.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Your Authentic Formula 1 World Championship Starting Grid with SCX®
    Complete your authentic Formula 1 World Championship starting grid with SCX® SCX® PRESENTS FERNANDO ALONSO'S RENAULT ING F-1 Drive the latest car in the team that made the Spanish driver a champion The Renault ING F-1 driven by the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship is here. SCX® brings you this attractive single-seater so that you can recreate the most exciting moments of the championship on your own track. At the first glance its predominant colours – white, yellow, orange and blue and combinations of some of these, like yellow and orange – make this a highly striking car. Spoilers are of great importance in Formula 1 and this car does not disappoint in this respect. The double front spoiler carrying the ING logo has a highly aerodynamic shape and features several blades at the bottom, giving it a distinctly aggressive look. The nose of the Renault ING F-1, highly prominent in yellow, has the Renault logo in the centre along with an aerial, the car’s race number 5 and the driver’s name, plus different sponsors’ logos. The front wheels are reproduced together with their brackets and fittings, Bridgestone POTENZA tyres and hubs with a bolt in the centre from which the spokes radiate out. The side view of this SCX® model features a full range of the host of aerodynamic features fitted to cars in the Formula 1 World Championship to make them more competitive. Four spoiler fins are located on the sides of the car, the last of them towards the back, just in front of the rear wheels.
    [Show full text]
  • Inducing Duel with Ayrton Senna from Behind the Wheel of a Williams
    OUT OF THE BOX THE SKY'S The Limit Words: Richard Whitehead Pictures: Boutsen Aviation / Getty HE IS OFT-REMEMBERED FOR HIS ADRENALINE- INDUCING DUEL WITH AYRTON SENNA FROM BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A WILLIAMS- RENAULT AT THE 1990 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX, BUT THESE DAYS, FORMER F1 DRIVER, THIERRY BOUTSEN, GETS HIS KICKS CLOSING MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR DEALS. WITH THE REGIONAL MARKET FOR PRIVATE JETS HIttING TRIPLE FIGURES IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HIS LATEST VENTURE, MONACO-BASED BOUTSEN AVIATION, IS LOOKING TO CATCH THE UPDRAFT OF A LUCRATIVE MARKET TREND HERE IN THE GCC. HE CHATS TO SLT ABOUT HIS DAYS BEHIND THE WHEEL, MODERN F1 AND HOW HIS EPONYMOUS BUSINESS IS TAKING FLIGHT. here were suggestions that, as a driver, you lacked the ruthless streak that might have taken you to more F1 wins. Now you are in high-level business, have you discovered that hardness that might have been lacking in the past? ItT may have looked so because I never had the most competitive car. But if you look closely at my results, most of the time I have beaten my teammates, whoever they were. So, I don't think that I lacked a ruthless streak, I just had no opportunity. This suggestion may also have come from the fact that I have a quiet character, outside the car, but in the car it was not the same! 78 . sur la terre . out of the box . sur la terre . out of the box . 79 Standard Patrice FP issue34.pdf 1 9/16/14 8:46 AM Thierry Boutsen fends off the attentions of Ayrton Senna to claim a famous victory for Willaims-Renault at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 1990.
    [Show full text]
  • Running Head: Leadership Analysis - Senna 1
    Running Head: Leadership Analysis - Senna 1 Ayrton Senna’s pursuit of perfection in Leadership Kris Felstead Foundations of Leadership November 24th, 2012 Leadership Analysis: Senna 2 Senna is a film documentary about Brazilian race car driver Ayrton Senna. The film begins with an overview of his journey from Brazil to Europe and his arrival into Formula 1 in 1984. As the film follows Senna it reveals both his personal and on track challenges and triumphs, culminating in his recognition as a global superstar. It is common to hear race fans describe the drivers as heroes. The notion of what constitutes a hero from an outsider’s perspective can be quite different from the challenges a driver goes through to compete in the sport they love. Furthermore, if one examines the leadership criteria it takes to lead a team to a championship, it becomes clear the driver is doing much more than just piloting the car around a track. The relationship the driver has with his team is a delicate balancing act of focusing on the needs of the team, while balancing the need to attain specific objectives each race weekend. It was in this balancing act that Senna displayed his strongest and weakest moments of leadership and thorough this examination it becomes clear he is an authentic leader in every sense of the word. Emergence of a Leader The first footage you are presented with is Senna driving go-karts when he came from Europe in 1978 to compete in the World Championship. The voice over of Senna describes his feeling of competing at that time as “pure driving, pure racing, there wasn’t any politics to be concerned with, or money to be won, but just real racing” (Senna, 1:14).
    [Show full text]
  • VODAFONE Mclaren MERCEDES TEAM UNVEILED in VALENCIA
    VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES TEAM UNVEILED IN VALENCIA Monday 15th January 2007, Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias, Valencia, Spain: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes race drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will drive through the streets of Valencia in their Formula 1 cars later today to mark the start of an exciting new era for the team. The event heralds the launch of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, which Vodafone is joining as Title Sponsor and Official Mobile Partner. Fernando and Lewis, who form one of the youngest driver line-ups in the history of the sport, will unveil the new livery to an expected crowd of more than 150,000 on a bespoke circuit around the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias in two MP4-21 race cars. This will be followed by the unveiling of the 2007 car, the MP4-22, which Fernando and Lewis will use to contest this year's Formula 1 World Championship. The 2007 challengers will conduct a shakedown test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, on Wednesday 17th January. The intensive pre-season testing programme will then commence on Wednesday 24th January at the same track. Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett join Fernando and Lewis to complete the driver line-up. Pedro and Gary, who are starting their fifth and second years with the team respectively, will continue to support the ongoing technical development of the MP4-22 package during the course of the year alongside Fernando and Lewis. “This is a fantastic day for me - I am really proud to be introducing myself as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver in my home country, and of course to help present my new team to the Spanish fans,” said double World Champion Fernando.
    [Show full text]
  • OMP America.Pdf
    omp service: omp america BUSSINESS MANAGEMENT / MARKETING Project Company re-launch and repositioning of the brand in the US market. OMP Highly renowned worldwide within the motorsports industry, OMP is known as one of the world’s best brands for racing equipment and safety accessories. OMP is the brand of choice for many World Champions including Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher who wore the brand for 11 straight years. Issues and Challenges for the US market • Limited brand equity with a weak positioning and awareness • Lack of dealer/distributor confidence generated declining sales • The retirement of seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher • The need to attract traditional customers and the NEW generation of racers Our Involvement OMP commissioned STUDIOMILANO to conduct the study and implementation of new commercial and marketing strategies in order to re-launch the US branch, reposition the brand, generate awareness and create a solid consumer base in North America. STUDIOMILANO was also placed in charge of the day-to-day management and operations of OMP America including imports, sales, distribution, local production and the expansion to Latin America of all the OMP products. omp america Results From the time when STUDIOMILANO took over the business management of OMP America, the company has experienced significant growth: • Sales have increased by 300% since 2006 and it has grown from a 2 to a 9-employee operation. • The company was reorganized to optimize the purchasing, importing and distributing procedures and a warehouse facility has been added. • The distributor and dealer network in the US market has been reorganized and confidence with the brand has been restored.
    [Show full text]
  • Mclaren-Honda Prepares for 2015: Laying the Foundations for Future Domination
    McLaren-Honda prepares for 2015: laying the foundations for future domination McLaren-Honda is delighted to announce its new driver line-up for 2015: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen will remain an important part of the team, as test and reserve driver. All three men will play crucial roles in re-establishing the ascendancy of one of global sport’s most iconic unions, for McLaren and Honda have already formed one of the most dominant partnerships in motorsport history: Honda broke new ground in the 1980s by creating a turbocharged engine that was unparalleled in both its output and its efficiency, and, between 1988 and 1992, McLaren-Honda won eight world championships and 44 Grand Prix, and took 53 pole positions and set 30 fastest laps, all in just 80 Grand Prix. In 1988, the partnership created arguably the single most successful Formula 1 car of all time: the all-conquering McLaren-Honda MP4/4, which was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in an amazing 15 of the season’s 16 Grand Prix. The lure presented by those same goals has once again brought the legendary Japanese corporation back to the pinnacle of global motor racing; and, again, that company, Honda, is developing its revolutionary new turbocharged engine at its all-new purpose-built state-of-the-art motorsport facility in Sakura, Japan. It is against that backdrop that McLaren and Honda are now committing to rebuilding afresh the strongest possible partnership in Formula 1. The aforementioned Ayrton Senna, in the opinion of many the greatest driver in the history of our sport, won 30 of the 44 Grand Prix that McLaren and Honda annexed together between 1988 and 1992.
    [Show full text]
  • Ayrton Senna
    AYRTON SENNA Ayrton Senna is, perhaps, the greatest racing driver ever to have walked the planet. He was certainly the best qualifier of all time in Formula One racing, obtaining twice as many poles as the great Alain Prost . He was in pole position a remarkable four times out of every ten races alltogether 65 times which even Schumacher has not beaten yet. It was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 21.3.1960 that Ayrton Senna Da Silva was born. His parents were wealthy, especially by Brazilian standards, so he did not have to experience many of the hardships associated with growing up there (his father was a thriving businessman and landowner). As a young boy, he had a reputation for being clumsy, which was later diagnosed as a motor coordination deficiency, but his father could see the racing driver in him, and bought him his first go-kart at the age of four. Young Ayrton showed remarkable dedication to the machine, both in racing it, and its maintenance. His father rewarded him by buying him another better kart, and at the age of eight, Ayrton Senna competed in his first race. This time also saw the emergence of the great Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi, and it was he along with Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, that proved to be a great inspiration for the young Senna. When Ayrton was thirteen he was allowed to enter kart races, and promptly won his first one in style, against some prodigious local talent. 1976 the great Brazilian won the South American Kart Championships, and by 1980 had finished second in two consecutive World Kart Championships, virtually unheard of for a driver with such limited experience.
    [Show full text]