Ayrton Senna,
A Racing Legend
To motor racing fans, and to his fellow Brazilians, Ayrton Senna was
a God. He was a Formula 1 racing legend with millions of fans. He raced
in 161 Grand Prix, winning 41 of them (second only to Alain Prost�s 51).
His 65 pole positions has made an all time record over Jim Clark�s 33.
He was the Formula 1 champion in 1988, 1990 and 1991, though he missed
out in 1989 as he was excluded from the Japanese Grand Prix, which lost
him the title.
Born in S�o Paulo, Brazil in 1960 Senna was born to race. His father
first sponsored him in kart racing as a child, where he won his first go-kart
championship at the age of 14, and went on to claim 2 South American titles.
He then moved to England to begin an apprenticeship in top-flight racing.
His Brizillian fans cheered him on through while he took the titles from
1981 to 1983 in progressively more powerful cars .
He first grabbed the headlines in a Formula One with a dramatic drive
in the wet at Monaco placing second behind Alain Prost in a race that was
shortened because of the terrible conditions. The following year he was
snapped up to drive for Lotus-Renault and again driving in the wet won
his first Grand Prix in Portugal. From 1985 to 1987 he won six races for
Lotus. In 1987 Lotus ran Honda engines, and when Honda switched in 1988
to the McLaren team Senna went with them. This led to an era of McLaren/Honda/Senna
dominance of Formula One.
In
1988 he won 8 races, an all time record, and in 1989 he won a further 6
races but was edged out of the championship by fellow McLaren driver Alain
Prost. In 1989 he came second again to Alain Prost, but only due to his
exclusion from the Japanese Grand Prix. The next two consecutive years
he won the crown. In 1990 he won 6 races for McLaren-Honda, and in 1991
he won 7 races for his team .
In 1992 Nigel Mansell, driving the superior Williams-Renault, won the
title. Ayrton was still with McLaren which lacked the active suspension
and the power of the Williams-Renault, but due to Senna�s skilled driving
McLaren still scored three victories. In 1992 Senna came 4th overall, his
worst final result since 1986. In 1993 he was still with McLaren while
his old rival Alain Prost returned to beat him yet again with a Williams-Renault.
Senna drove brilliantly in an inferior car to win 5 races that year to
come second overall to Alain Prost.
Ayrton switched to Williams-Peugeot for 1994 and was expected to dominate
the series that year but this was not to be.
He died on Sunday 1st May, 1994 in the San Marino Grand Prix when apparently
his Williams car had a mechanical failure, the steering shaft snapped veering
his Williams TW16 off to the right and head on into a concrete wall. Senna
was airlifted to hospital where he died from severe head and neck injuries
four hours later. I quote from Ayrton Senna da Silva:
"If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I am going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially."
Although Ayrton Senna was known widely as "Senna" his full
name is Ayrton Senna da Silva. "Senna" was his middle name, which
was his mother�s name. Since "da Silva" is such a common name
in Brazil (like Smith and Jones) he became known as Senna, because it is
not such a common name.
Ayrton
Senna was a single-minded, sensitive man. He was admired by millions of
people all over the world, especially his fellow Brazilians. When Roland
Ratzenberger died during a fatal crash at the same race meeting, Ayrton
Senna had defied the rules to go and see Ratzenberger and judge for himself
what had happened. "When he was impeded by the track attendants he
had jumped a wall, climbed into a car and driven around to verify for himself
what had happened."
Ayrton Senna was known to be more serious than any other driver in
racing. From when he was 10 years old, he was never resting from working
on his kart or thinking about the lines he should take on the track. As
a child, he was believed to be a 30-year-old kid, as he was so serious
and adult-like . His only real rival had been Maurizio Sala, the only person
who ever challenged him in his childhood racing. Senna and Sala would be
battling it out for 1st place while the rest of the field, a long, long
way back, would battle it out for third.
Ayrton was known to be a ruthless driver. The ruthlessness had paid
off, giving him three world championships and favourite to take the title
in 1994. 
He
was the coolest of drivers, unless he had a grudge against someone or was
simply steamed up, and was willing to take risks to win the race. Senna
was willing to take risks so great to the extent that there was the chance
that it may end up as a fatal accident. People believed that Senna would
end up killing himself because he took these risks. Alain Prost, his former
team-mate, stated "Ayrton has a small problem. He thinks he can�t
kill himself because he believes in God and I think that�s very dangerous
for the other drivers."
To conclude this biography of Ayrton Senna da Silva, I would end in
saying that he was a man that had millions of fans. He was very serious
and determined about his racing, but it paid off for him, giving him 3
Formula One world championships and 41 separate wins. Ayrton Senna will
never be forgotten since he was the most skilled racing driver there has
ever been. Unfortunately for the whole world, he died through no fault
of his own.
QUOTES FROM THE TRACK AFTER SENNA DIED
- Ron Dennis - "Ayrton Senna was an extraordinary racing driver. His skills, craft, subtlety and courage were of such magnitude that he dwarfed his generation of drivers."
- Jackie Stewart - "Senna was one of the greatest talents that has ever lived in motor racing."
- Frank Williams - "His loss is impossible to quantify. Everyone who has ever met him, in whatever capacity, feels they have lost something very special."
- Emerson Fittipaldi - "The life of Ayrton Senna was an example in dedication and the love of the sports few athletes have had at international level. The world has lost the greatest athlete in the history of motor racing and I have lost a great friend. Grand Prix racing will never be the same without Ayrton."
- Nigel Mansell - "Ayrton and I shared some of the most exciting races ever staged and it is impossible to put into words what a sad loss this is to motor racing. I was stunned after Roland Ratzenberger was killed and for Ayrton to lose his life the next day makes it a very black weekend. There will not be a driver in the world who will not be deeply affected by this news."
- Nelson Piquet - "This is a bad loss not only to the sport, but also to out country. There is nobody at his level in Formula 1. He was the best driver, very determined and it is a sad loss."
- Rubens Barrichello - "When I first came round in the medical center after my accident, the first face I saw was Ayrton's, with tears in his eyes. I had never seen that with Ayrton before. I just had the impression that he felt as if my accident was like one of his own. He helped me a lot with my career and I can't find the words to,describe his loss."
- Michael Schumacher - "What has happened is so dramatic and so bad that I feel no satisfaction in winning."
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