Remembering Ayrton Senna...............RIP

[Coops]

The final part of the fateful weekend in Imola 1994, exactly 20 years ago today, saw the untimely death of Ayrton Senna. The GP event had already seen Rubens Barrichello injured and also the death of Roland Ratzenberger.

 

The race was problematic from the start when JJ Lehto stalled on the grid and Pedro Lamy went into the back of him - debris flew everywhere including tyres which injured 9 spectators. The safety car was deployed.

 

Once the track was clear of debris, the safety car was withdrawn and the race restarted. However on the second lap after the restart, with Senna leading Schumacher, Senna's car left the road at the Tamburello curve, and after slowing from 190 mph to 131 mph, hit the concrete wall, with debris flying into the path of the other drivers.

 

The rest we all know.

 

 

Motorsport arguably lost one of it's greatest drivers and ambassadors that day from a career that spanned 161 races, 41 wins and 65 poles but his legacy lives on. This is some great footage of Senna's races - the European GP from Donington Park in 1993 is one of the best openining laps ever seen but Senna's qualifying lap during the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix is widely regarded as the best single lap in F1 history. 

 

 

 

 

RIP

 

#RememberSenna.

[Sippo]

This is an ace gesture from Corinthian players. Wore helmets to remember the late Senna.

 

[Auric Goldfinger]

Very nice Post Coops

 

Thanks

[Gti Jazz Blue]

Hmm time to spin up Senna again this Evening.

[Jim H]

If Only.
 

[Coops]

Hmm time to spin up Senna again this Evening.

 

Either that, or "1 - Life on the Limit" as samuir1974 suggested in the Roland Ratzenberger thread.

 

 

 

If Only.

 

 

Hmm.

 

Indeed. If Only. Indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

This photo is great:

 

[vRS19TD]

I remember watching this when i was 13 and shed a tear or two when the extent of the damage was obvious. :(

R.I.P.

[booke23]

I remember every detail like it was yesterday........Even the Larrousse car driven by Erik Comas that was released from the pits by mistake during the Red flag......only some sharp eyed marshals frantically waving red flags at the accident site prevented him from colliding with the medical helicopter that had landed on the middle of the track......He was pretty much flat out when he came upon the accident too.

 

Ironically 2 years before this at the 1992 Belgium Grand Prix, Erik Comas had a very bad crash in practise and Senna stopped his car and ran over to assist him. He shut his engine down and held his head steady until the doctors arrived. What a guy.......Can't believe it was 20 years ago. 

Edited 1 May, 2014 by booke23

[Coops]

I remember every detail like it was yesterday........Even the Larrousse car driven by Erik Comas that was released from the pits by mistake during the Red flag......only some sharp eyed marshals frantically waving red flags at the accident site prevented him from colliding with the medical helicopter that had landed on the middle of the track......He was pretty much flat out when he came upon the accident too.

 

Ironically 2 years before this at the 1992 Belgium Grand Prix, Erik Comas had a very bad crash in practise and Senna stopped his car and ran over to assist him. He shut his engine down and held his head steady until the doctors arrived. What a guy.......Can't believe it was 20 years ago. 

 

 

You're right, yes Comas was very lucky indeed - both at Belgium and then at Imola, could have made Senna's crash much much worse.

[gadgetman]

I remember exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing as it happened with everything being shown on TV.

[jlwah]

I wasn't a Senna fan, but his talent was unquestionable.

 

Perhaps the only good thing that resulted from his death was a speeding up of the implementation of driver safety aids, in particular the HANS head restraint system and also wheel tethering.

 

Although one could never be certain, it would be highly likely that a current F1 car involved in the same crash would probably result in the driver walking away completely unharmed, such has been the progress in car safety over the past 20 years.

 

Great picture of the Corinthian footballers wearing Senna helmets!

[Coops]

I wasn't a Senna fan, but his talent was unquestionable.

 

Perhaps the only good thing that resulted from his death was a speeding up of the implementation of driver safety aids, in particular the HANS head restraint system and also wheel tethering.

 

Although one could never be certain, it would be highly likely that a current F1 car involved in the same crash would probably result in the driver walking away completely unharmed, such has been the progress in car safety over the past 20 years.

 

Great picture of the Corinthian footballers wearing Senna helmets!

 

I watched "1 - Life on the limit" last night, and this shows just how much the safety has improved. Only 18 months or so after Senna's death, Martin Brundle had a horrific crash in Melbourne but promptly walked away from the crash. In those days, teams still had spare cars so after sprinting to Sid Watkins to get the nod to race, he ran back to the pits and got in the spare car for the restart. Testament to the new safety regs. (First minute in below)

 

http://youtu.be/7BZqJar3oZ4

[samuir1974]

It is a very good documentary - well worth a watch. 

[Gti Jazz Blue]

Well we did watch SENNA last night, the drivers these days are brave - but Oh My in that era they were unbelievably brave - the risks involved must have been akin to test pilots.

[Coops]

It is a very good documentary - well worth a watch. 

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

 

Well we did watch SENNA last night, the drivers these days are brave - but Oh My in that era they were unbelievably brave - the risks involved must have been akin to test pilots.

 

Definitely - is a great docu/film.

 

There is some fantastic in car footage of Senna doing a lap at Monaco - manual gearbox too.

[Aspman]

20yr jeez. I watched that race.

[gadgetman]

I watched "1 - Life on the limit" last night, and this shows just how much the safety has improved. Only 18 months or so after Senna's death, Martin Brundle had a horrific crash in Melbourne but promptly walked away from the crash. In those days, teams still had spare cars so after sprinting to Sid Watkins to get the nod to race, he ran back to the pits and got in the spare car for the restart. Testament to the new safety regs. (First minute in below)

 

What channel was it on?  Cant find it on the sky planner

[Coops]

Not on TV - I downloaded it.

[andy2286]

Around a year or so ago, I bought a 1:18 scale Ayrton Senna - Williams fw16 with full Tobacco livery from an ebay seller in Worthing, it was a bit of a drive but well worth it.
He invited me inside and showed me his collection of formula 1 and senna memorabilia, it really was something to behold.

 

On the subject of his death, I read a very interesting article posted online by Senna's press officer at the time. It's very interesting reading and give's you a glimpse of what was happening backstage while the drama was unfolding and what was being said to Leonardo Senna (Ayrton's brother)

[andy2286]

Turns out I forgot to post a link to the article in my last post. Here it is http://betisesportsworld.net/2014/05/01/senna-what-bernie-really-said-to-leonardo-senna/

[Thecko]

I pre-ordered "1 - Life on the Limit" when I saw a trailer for it on the Senna bluray. It's a really interesting documentary/film, the revelation about how Berny came to be the #1 man in the sport was a new one on me, the team owners from the time must kick themselves every single moment of every day!