Ayrton Senna

Where do you see what threads become thread of the month?

 

Well yes and no. Mansell had the favorable situation of having Mario do his oval set ups for him. IIRC he frequently drove Nigel's car to make sure it was properly set up (At least he did at Indy for sure). Many people seem to forget that Mansell only had one win on a road course in his two years in CART. The rest came on ovals on which set up is the most important thing. Once he pissed off Andretti, Nigel didn't win again and ran off.

 

Piquet was bloody quick at Indy until his accident. He tore up his legs so bad he never tried to drive an indycar again. He also wasn't with a top team like Newman Haas. He was only supposed to do a one off with John Menard's team which I think wasn't really full time then either.

 

That guy was really something. Although i met him once only and for the briefest of moment, i simply cant watch any video of him and not tear up. When i hear the Tema da Vitoria, i get goosebumps. I still havent managed to watch the Senna documentary as i know i will just cry.

He was loved even by people who didnt care about racing. I remember my mom cried the day he died even though she really didnt care about F1. But he was such a good character, such a big heart that he was loved by all of us Brazilians. I havent found a driver that made me feel the same way since.

 

Like everyone here, I considered him one of the greats so when I was in Sao Paulo on business one of the first things I went to visit was his grave site. Very humble grave sitting on the top of a hill in a very beautiful park like setting. Had it not been for the Brazilian flag flying over the top of it, it would have been hard to spot.
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+1

I went to his grave as well. It took us 3 taxis just to get to the right cemetery (Morumbi).

But outside the cemetery it became quickly clear how beloved he was/ is: the walls were covered with paintings and street vendors were selling t- shirts etc, years after his death, and a weeping fan laid flowers on his grave

Next time in Italy I want to make it to his memorial at Imola

 

We went to Imola in 2003 for the grand prix and visited both the statue and the
Tamburello memorial. It was quite moving and still very raw for me even though it was 9 years after his passing.
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Amazing video. I'm to young to have seen that live and have never seen that before. Unreal stuff, thanks for posting.

 

You're very welcome. [FWIW, one of the few reposts that nobody ever complains about! ]

It's lifted from the "50 years of onboard" DVD - Well worth picking up if you get a chance.

Cheers,
In

 

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Cheers,
Ian

 

2 great shots of the 'skateboard' mentioned earlier in the thread

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Marcoscars4life/Div/bakgrunn.jpg

http://timewastingmachine.tumblr.com/image/33436070674

 

Hi,

Just was wondering if there is any film available of the 1984 race that Niki Lauda arranged to arrange the opening of the new "safe" Nurnburing circuit using identical Mercedes 190 2.3 -16's. Lauda, Hill, Prost, Moss, Rossberg.... et al took part with Senna filling in for Fittipaldi at the last minute. Apparently, John Surtees commented afterwards (to Ferrari ??) that if they wanted the "right driver, you should take Senna".

Is this available on DVD ? Any leads.

Regards,

Ramin

 

Check out this thread, might have some info interesting to you:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/417183-video-190e-senna-raced-ring-gp-circuit-84-a.html

 

Can't help but think of it as the killer B.

Turn one in Montreal was named Senna in his honour. For my family and myself it will eternally be known as Senna for another reason. During the turbo era you could hear him blipping the throttle 3-4 times throughout the turn every lap, including practice and qualifying. He was the only driver to spool up boost for additional exit speed.

I often wonder whether race organizers cherished the memory equally and thought it appropriate Senna's genius complimented the name for the turn.

 

There was a bit more to it that that. Senna had a technique in which he jabbed at the throttle instead of feeding it back in progessively like the others did to yaw the car quicker so he could apply full throttle sooner. Apparently one year he explained what he did to Berger who went out and tried it and almost wrecked. Berger came back in and said, no way too hard for me.....

 

Sounded like blipping..

 

just in case someone is in Portugal and wants to bid....

Honda NSX -- driven by Senna | eBay

 

I'd be scared to drive it. It belongs in a museum..

 

For that amount of money, I think I would want more documentation than what this guy has to say...