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Ayrton Senna 1960 - 1994

"Things bring you to reality as to how fragile you are; at the same moment you are
doing something that nobody else is able to do. The same moment you are seen as the best,
the fastest and somebody that cannot be touched, you are enormously fragile. Because
in a split second it's gone."

"If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one
go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering
from whatever injury it was. If I am going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensely,
because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially."

......Ayrton Senna, from Car magazine.

You need to know Spa to savour Senna, need to know the steepness of the descent to Eau Rouge,
the strange ferocity of the left-right kink at the bottom; you need to know that Eau Rouge
is to be taken at high speed, balls to the wall.

Ayrton Senna - The Hard Edge of Genius, Christopher Hilton (1994)

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Ayrton Senna - The Man Himself

Ayrton Senna's Formula One career witnessed a meteoric rise to prominence, first with Lotus in the early 1980s and then with McLaren from 1988-1993, where he waged several close battles with Alain Prost. Senna won the Monaco Grand Prix a record six times and was clearly the best qualifying F1 driver of all time, with 65 pole positions ( although second on a percentage basis to Jim Clark ). His aggressive, uncompromising driving style led to extreme reactions among F1 aficionados -- either adulation or hatred -- but his skill and bravery were unmatched.

In the last years of his life, Senna seemed to mellow a bit, becoming almost philosophical about the relationship between Grand Prix racing and personal growth. His last race was the 1994 San Marino GP, where he crashed and died -- after taking his last pole -- while leading the race on lap two. Senna's untimely death ( one of only two in F1 since the late 1970s ) left Formula One without its shining star and ushered in a renewed concern for safety. A highly religious man, Senna ironically had a premonition on the evening before the race that he would die.

Biography
Date of birth: 21st of March 1960
Current age: 34 years
Place of birth: Sao Paulo/BRA
Resident: Monte Carlo, Sao Paulo
Height: 1,75 m (5ft 9ins)
Weight: 70 kg (155 lbs)
Marital status: divorced, girlfriend Adriane
Children: ---------------
Learned profession: business studies

Hobbies: model aircrafts
Sports: jet-ski, water-skiing, tennis, jogging
Favourite music: "Everything good - from pop to classical."
Favourite food: fruit, typical Brazilian food
Favourite drink: Guarana

Start of racing career: Go-karts at the age of 4 (!), first go-kart races at the age of 13
First racing car: 1981 - Formula Ford 1600, van Diemen
First success: 1977 Panamerican Kart-Champion 1979, 1980 runner-up Kart-World Championship
Most memorable experience: "Clinching the 1988 World Championship by winning
the Japanese GP at Suzuka."

Career Statistics
Grand Prix-Starts: 161
Pole-Positions: 65
Wins: 41
Grand Prix -Points: 614
World Championship Titles: 3

1981 - Brit. Formula Ford 1600, Champion
1982 - Formula Ford 2000, British and European Champion
1983 - British F-3-Championship, Champion
1984 - F1 Toleman-Hart, 13 points, 9th
1985 - F1 Lotus-Renault, 38 points, 4th, 1st GP victory in Portugal
1986 - F1 Lotus-Renault, 55 points, 4th
1987 - F1 Lotus-Honda, 57 points, 3rd
1988 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, 94 points, World Champion
1989 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, 60 points World Championship runner-up
1990 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, 78 points, World Champion
1991 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, 96 points, World Champion
1992 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Honda, 50 p., 4th
1993 - F1 Marlboro-McLaren-Ford, 73 points World Championship runner-up
1994 - F1 Williams-Renault
pole positions in Brazil, Pacific and
in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola
fatal accident in the San Marino GP 1994

What They Said

Ron Dennis - "Ayrton Senna was an extraordinary racing driver. His skills, craft, subtlety and courage were of such magnitude that he dwarfed his generation of drivers."

Jackie Stewart - "Senna was one of the greatest talents that has ever lived in motor racing."

Frank Williams - "His loss is impossible to quantify. Everyone who has ever met him, in whatever capacity, feels they have lost something very special."

Emerson Fittipaldi - "The life of Ayrton Senna was an example in dedication and the love of the sports few athletes have had at international level. The world has lost the greatest athlete in the history of motor racing and I have lost a great friend. Grand Prix racing will never be the same without Ayrton."

Nigel Mansell - "Ayrton and I shared some of the most exciting races ever staged and it is impossible to put into words what a sad loss this is to motor racing. I was stunned after Roland Ratzenberger was killed and for Ayrton to lose his life the next day makes it a very black weekend. There will not be a driver in the world who will not be deeply affected by this news."

Nelson Piquet - "This is a bad loss not only to the sport, but also to our country. There is nobody at his level in Formula 1. He was the best driver, very determined and it is a sad loss."

Rubens Barrichello - "When I first came round in the medical center after my accident, the first face I saw was Ayrton's, with tears in his eyes. I had never seen that with Ayrton before. I just had the impression that he felt as if my accident was like one of his own. He helped me a lot with my career and I can't find the words to, describe his loss."

Michael Schumacher - "What has happened is so dramatic and so bad that I feel no satisfaction in winning."