Posts tagged Ayrton Senna

On May 01, 1994, the racing world lost one of the most enigmatic and naturally gifted drivers that ever sat behind the wheel of a Formula One race car.  A national hero in his native Brazil, He is considered one of the best drivers that ever sat behind the wheel of a Formula One car.

Ayrton passed away, 18 years ago today, as his car lost control due to a mechanical failure on the Williams FW16 he was piloting. On the seventh lap of the San Marino Grand Prix, Senna’s car left the racing line at the fast Tamburello corner, running in a straight line off the track and striking an unprotected concrete barrier.  Telemetry shows he left the track at 190 mph and was able to slow the car down by braking to 135 mph in slightly under 2 seconds before hitting the wall at a shallow angle.

Ayrton died at the race track from an injury to his head resulting in a massive brain trauma.

Formula One is still to this day, the lesser without him.

Vic

[images via internet and are copyright by their respective owners]

If you want to get a good sense of who the driver and who the man Ayrton was, then I recommend you watch “Senna”. It is the award winning documentary on Ayrton’s remarkable story, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on and off the track and spans the racing legend’s years as an F1 driver.  Far more than a film for F1 fans, SENNA unfolds his story in a remarkable manner, eschewing many standard documentary techniques in favor of a more cinematic approach that makes full use of astounding footage, much of which is drawn from F1 archives and previously unseen footage.

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