Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Ayrton Senna
21 March 1960 - 1 May 1994
To be able to deliver the results he did means that a driver has to possess great mental capacity added to a number of great physical attributes. Most in professional sports have this, but some remain a cut above the rest. We see this in many sports today, with one athlete who stands above the others. Think of Tiger Woods, Carl Fogarty and Mick Doohan. Few people are aware of his lack of motor coordination as a child, making his accomplishments all the more legendary. He showed good athletic ability and possessed a good understanding of mechanics, as his ability to change motor gears without the use of a clutch showed.
His involvement in motor racing started at age 4, when he was introduced to karting by his father who built him his first kart. He progressed to open-wheeled cars and progressed through the various formulas on his way to F1. He made his F1 debut in front of his home crowd in Rio. Senna was known for his tremendous car control, especially on a wet track. He seemed fearless as he attacked corners and took risks others wouldn't. He knew the limits of the car and he was well aware of his own, but he never backed off, relying instead on instinct than consciousness. It was as though the car had become an extension of himself. He mastered his art in the same way a warrior would master his, making the weapon an extended limb rather than a tool in the hand. Watch the video below to see his control and reflexes:
His involvement in motor racing started at age 4, when he was introduced to karting by his father who built him his first kart. He progressed to open-wheeled cars and progressed through the various formulas on his way to F1. He made his F1 debut in front of his home crowd in Rio. Senna was known for his tremendous car control, especially on a wet track. He seemed fearless as he attacked corners and took risks others wouldn't. He knew the limits of the car and he was well aware of his own, but he never backed off, relying instead on instinct than consciousness. It was as though the car had become an extension of himself. He mastered his art in the same way a warrior would master his, making the weapon an extended limb rather than a tool in the hand. Watch the video below to see his control and reflexes:
Racing, of course is what Senna was most famous for, but he became a Brazilian national hero for more reasons than that. Poverty is as great in Brazil as it is anywhere else in the World, and children often suffer the most. Brazil has a large number of homeless children living on the streets. Senna had great compassion in general, on and off the track, none more so than for the masses of poverty stricken children. In 1994 he discussed helping the many children in his home country with his sister. He was in Europe at the time and they were to make work of it upon his return. His sister started the Senna foundation in his honour, as he never returned home. He died in Imola on 1 May in a horrific crash, a day after Roland Ratzenberger passed away in the same manner. As he passed the F1 baton to Michael Schumacher, so he passed the baton of compassion to his sister and as a result around two million children today benefit from his dream.
1 million people attended his funeral. His coffin bearers were some of the Motorsport Greats. His name is carried on by the many companies who promote it, including Honda, Ducati, TAG Heuer and Hublot, but it is in the hearts and minds of the millions of fans that Ayrton Senna da Silva will live on.
He would have turned 54 today.
