Today would have been Ayrton Senna's 46th birthday. A presence still greatly missed. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's a shame I never got to see him race (even on television). Somewhere out there, he's filling up his trophy room.
What continues to amaze me is the fact, that Ayrton was the last fatality in F1. This has been the relatively safest period in F1's history.
Knock on wood. But there was a period of about 10 years between Ayrton's death and Riccardo Paletti's as well. Elio de Angelis was killed in that period as well but i believe that was in testing in 86. Just goes to show you, motor racing will never be totally safe it could still happen at anytime.
Very true, he was special. But the point i was making was that it was 8 years between DeAngelis's death and Senna's. It's easy to think the sport has become safe just as people did before May/1/1994.
RIP Ayrton. I'm glad I went to the '92 and '93 Adelaide F1 Grands Prix and saw him race. '93 was Ayrton's final victory. All it takes is for one of the cars to roll over and for the cockpit to land on something (barrier, another car), for a loose part of a car to impact a cockpit (e.g. tyre) or something similar.
Hence why i think they are a step above the regular sportsman, that hits around a ball, and runs pretty fast... RIP Ayrton
Ernest Hemingway once said "There are only 3 sports in the world - mountain climbing, bull fighting and automobile racing. The rest are mere games" Of course, this was coined in an era where it was not uncommon to have a couple drivers die a year. Things are way better now. We have Jackie Stewart to thank for starting the safety revolution.
Isn't there some quote about Senna decalring that he hit the wall only because someone actually moved the wall and he was driving with such precision that he hadn't accounted for the wall being moved? Then they went and investigated, and the wall had actually moved like an inch or something?
he may be gone, but the impact he made is still here. i never really got to see him race, but when i was a kid, somewhere in 1990-1992, i was watching him race, and i recall telling my parents what a boring sport formula one is. lol...Senna's death made Formula One the safest ever sport on earth today. bless his soul...
Found it: Pat Symonds, the executive director of engineering with the Mild Seven Renault team these days, was Sennas race engineer at Toleman in 1984. Dallas was what I would call an old fashioned North American street circuit, lined with big concrete blocks, Symonds said. It was a very tricky circuit and bumpy enough to make even Monaco look smooth! After qualifying well, and running as high as fourth, Ayrton Senna eventually had to retire with damage caused by hitting the wall. On returning to the pits, he seemed shocked that he could have hit the wall. His immediate reaction was, I know I didnt make a mistake the wall must have moved! The concrete block in question weighed about 20 tons, and we were naturally skeptical, but he was so persistent that he actually persuaded me to walk around the circuit and take a look. When I did so, the wall had indeed moved somebody had clearly clipped the previous block and in doing so, displaced the next one by only about 4 millimeters (0.16 of an inch), so the transition between the two blocks was no longer smooth but marked with a tiny step. That was when the precision to which he was driving really hit home for me. Dont forget that this was a guy in his first season of Formula One, straight out of Formula 3.
i still remember getting a call from my friend the morning senna died...i was shocked. i cannot help but think about how many worl championships he would have won...there has never been a driver that could carry his helmet bag. he was in a class all his own. do you think schumacher ever wonders what if?
never...i don;t think schumacher thinks about that. MS might be close to senna, but he's no senna. and he knows that, i'm pretty sure
you are probably correct. and i agree w/ you that he is no senna. senna was the best of lauda and gilles...but a little better yet! i don't know if we will ever see a person w/ the skills he had anytime soon. just my opinion.
I think he would have liked the chance to really prove himself against Senna. It has been pretty well documented about how devastated Michael was about Senna's death. Also, remember the press conference at Monza 2000 when the interviewer asked Michael how he felt about equalling Sennas win record? Michael broke down in tears in front of his embarassed-looking brother. Andreas, where is that memorial you posted a picture of? I have seen the memorial at Imola and the one at Donnington, but not that one.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16667&highlight=moment+time I wrote this two years ago on his 10th anniversary and I still feel strongly that he and Michael are equals despite Michael's statistics. I have all the old footage of his races from the 80's and 90's and it still blows me away at the things he could do in a race car. They say that in death atheletes and celebrities achievements are magnified but I was as amazed by his talent before Imola as I still am today. I heard some amazing stories from my dad about Jim Clark and the stories about Senna (which I actually witnessed) remind me of what I heard about JC. Regards, JK
