A moment to reflect...

[Andy665 0]

......it was 13 years ago today that the late, great Ayrton Senna was taken

[vr6storm 0]

blimey...........I remember well where I was when I heard the news of his demise..........some service station off the M25(i think) well the M-way heading North out of London :?:

[Bendy 0]

blimey, didnt think it had been this long that he had gone. was in gran canaria at the time, now in work, 13 years makes a difference!! :lol:

[herisites 0]

I was in juniors school only being 8 at the time and my corrado wasnt even born :lol:

[chrishill 0]

I would have been about 14 and I clearly remember seeing him crash, shook me up for quite a while when they announced he was dead, knowing I'd seen it happen.

[Lippy 0]

yeah I watched that GP come to think of it, it was a sad day, even tho I wasnt old enough to truly appreciate his skills

[Bendy 0]

and lets not forget roland ratzenburger (sp) either who tried to drive over the safty fench in practice/qualifing!!

[vwdeviant 0]

and lets not forget roland ratzenburger (sp) either who tried to drive over the safty french in practice/qualifing!!

:lol: Love those Safe French ;)

 

Yeah strange I can remember where I was for this too (at a show up at Avon Park) couldn't believe it...

 

A great loss... :cry:

[Bendy 0]

and lets not forget roland ratzenburger (sp) either who tried to drive over the safty french in practice/qualifing!!

:lol: Love those Safe French ;)

 

Yeah strange I can remember where I was for this too (at a show up at Avon Park) couldn't believe it...

 

A great loss... :cry:

 

woops, trying to drive over the french. wishful thinking!! :lol:

[Jonny_L 0]

Wow, 13 years already. I remember the news too, and like herisites I was only in primary school. A great racer no doubt. 8)

[corozin 0]

I'm old enough, and was lucky enough to have seen both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger actually race.

 

I saw Ayrton racing both in his season of British F3, in 1983 when he came third at the British GP in his debut F1 season at Toleman, and then again in 85-87 when he raced for Lotus.

 

During his F3 season, Senna & Martin Brundle pretty much annihialated the rest of the field, and Senna took the title by only a couple of points. When he landed in F1 people talked about his talent, but it was his third place in the 1984 British GP at Brands which made everyone sit up & notice, and he was poached by Colin Chapman to drive at Lotus before the end of the 1983 season.

 

For me, the years that followed at Lotus were I think his best as a driver. The car had the least power of the major turbo'd teams, but Senna always managed to use the car's excellent balance and driveability to full effect and make it competitive. Unfortunately Lotus' legendary unreliability meant he never capitalised on his pace and he never claimed the title that his skill deserved.

 

Obviously he later did the business at MacLaren (fighting Alain Prost continuously for political dominance of the TAG-supported team) but it's the sight of that yellow helmet in the JPS Special coloured Lotus that I will always remember. That, and perhaps his performance in the wet at the Donnigton British GP (was it 1992??) when he essentially lapped the entire field within 20 laps...

 

His death was a tremendous shock, but perhaps inevitable in many ways. Senna's 100% commitment to every corner and his apparent belief that he woudn't get hurt always had the makings of a tragic end, in the same way that drivers like Gilles Villeneueve had ended. However it known at the time that the death of his friend Ratzenberger the day before had quite shaken Senna's self confidence in that respect.

 

Ratzenberger was a different story. Like Damon Hill he was a continuous front runner in Formula Ford during the mid 1980s (at the same time as Hill) but never seemed to catch a break and land a drive in F1. When he did finally arrive in F1 it was in a crap car and he was consigned to the back of the grid all the time. His death was caused by a wing failure from recollection - a similar failure had also killed Elio DeAngelis (Senna's Lotus team mate) a couple of years previously.

 

All very sad. All great drivers. You really had to be around in those days & see how many racing drivers were killed in the sport right up until the early 1990s to appreciate how safe modern racing cars are these days.

[Son of a Beesting 0]

I would have been about 14 and I clearly remember seeing him crash, shook me up for quite a while when they announced he was dead, knowing I'd seen it happen.

 

Snap, I can still remember sitting on my couch watching all the marshall cars and everyone running about, there were still other cars on the track I seem to remeber, utter confusion and shock

[jonnyboyo 0]

I to was watching that Grand Prix. Glad somebody mentioned Ratzenburger to. People often forget that 2 people died during that event.

It was weird watching the aftermath. I never expected they'd be announcing his death, i didn't seem real.