Remembering Ayrton Senna

[rage2]

http://www.beyond.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/senna-550x310.jpg

20 years ago, racing history was made. Not all history is good, for Ayrton Senna, one of the most revered names in Formula One, died doing what he does best. Leading on lap 7, Senna’s Williams left the track at Tamburello, ran straight into a wall, and perished in front of live viewers. Ask me where I was 20 years ago, and I simply have to point out the window at my office, where I could see my apartment where I lived across the street, and you would see me chain smoking on the balcony, flipping every TV channel hoping to see news that the racing hero I’ve followed since as far I can remember, has come out of the accident alive. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

Senna was legendary in the world of Formula One even before his death. His natural talent, work ethic, and inhuman focus changed the way Formula One drivers approached the sport. His dedication to fitness, telemetry analysis, and ruthlessness on the track is common place today, but in his era of racing, it was an exception rather than the norm. It was this dedication that allowed him to rise above his peers, even when racing against greats such as Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, a young Michael Schumacher, and his racing nemesis, Alain Prost. Even though it was 2 decades ago that Senna died, he is still remembered to this date as if he was still alive by several generations of F1 fans.

[ExtraSlow]

I used to watch F1 with my brother on the weekends. He was always a bigger race fan than me, but I remember those names well.

Senna was a great movie as well. My wife even enjoyed it, and she's not into any form of motorsport.

[n1zm0]

I remember I was watching that race about 8 or 9 years old, beforehand I had never knew his legendary talent and really just watched F1 with my old man overall, I watched the tributes to him thereafter (stuff you'd see on the documentary) and finally understood how much of a blow it was to the F1 world.

[Phl0xed]

I was too young for this to have much importance when it happened, but have since done plenty of retroactive catching up. A trailblazer like Senna will be remembered in the books of history.

On a related note, I thought the Documentary "Senna" in 2010 was very well done. Great watch for anyone who has not seen it.

[Isaiah]

Touching tribute, Rage.

[EM2FTL]

I grew up watching F1 as a child, Senna was my hero. I will never forget where I was when I learned of his death either - I was 12, my mom woke me up to break the news to me.. I cried my eyes out refusing to believe it. Didn't watch another F1 race until I was well into my 20's.

[cloud7]

It was a tragic weekend. Rubens Barrichello had a big crash on the Friday... could have easily been fatal. Roland Ratzenburger killed during qualifying on the Saturday. Crash at the start o the race on Sunday injured a bunch of spectators when debris flew into the crowds. Then Senna was killed a few laps later.

Remembering both Roland and Ayrton.

[Kramerica]

Relatively new to F1. I started watching in 2011. I've since gotten more interested in the 80s F1 and watch alot of those races. While my favorites have to be Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda there is always something about watching Senna drive that is absolutely memorizing. I think its very hard to argue that there has been a better driver in F1, I think with every other of the "greats" you can point to a season where their car was off or they were having difficulty and weren't all there. Senna was unrelentless and always putting out the results.

[Modelexis]

Originally posted by EM2FTL
I grew up watching F1 as a child, Senna was my hero. I will never forget where I was when I learned of his death either - I was 12, my mom woke me up to break the news to me.. I cried my eyes out refusing to believe it. Didn't watch another F1 race until I was well into my 20's.

hmm, your mom decided to interrupt your sleep at age 12 to inform you that your hero is dead?

Seems odd to go out of your way to provoke hysteria in such a young kid. :dunno:

Wake up little EM2! your hero was pronounced dead on impact! :eek:

Just seems strange to be so eager to tell a child terrible news.

[EM2FTL]

Originally posted by Modelexis


hmm, your mom decided to interrupt your sleep at age 12 to inform you that your hero is dead?

Seems odd to go out of your way to provoke hysteria in such a young kid. :dunno:

Wake up little EM2! your hero was pronounced dead on impact! :eek:

Just seems strange to be so eager to tell a child terrible news.

lol.. interesting where your mind took you on this one - context helps my friend. As a kid I was an avid news junkie, reading and watching everything I could get my hands on. She knew I would wake up and find out right away.. so she decided to tell me herself when I got up that morning. She didn't shake me awake at 3AM and scream "SENNA'S DEAD MY BOY!!!!" if that's what you had pictured.

Some people...

[Modelexis]

haha

To be fair you changed your story, first you said

my mom woke me up to break the news to me

then you said

so she decided to tell me herself when I got up that morning

You can see where my misled view came from I'm sure.

[EM2FTL]

Originally posted by Modelexis
haha

To be fair you changed your story, first you said

my mom woke me up to break the news to me

then you said

so she decided to tell me herself when I got up that morning

You can see where my misled view came from I'm sure.

To clarify further,... no wait, fuck it. Jesus lord, RIP Senna, you missed out on this whole internet thing as evidenced by this riveting discussion!

[Modelexis]

u mad bro?

You more than anyone should know the value of using language to convey an accurate message to your audience. Sloppy language makes for misleading news, the same goes for anecdotal stories.

[EM2FTL]

Originally posted by Modelexis
u mad bro?

You more than anyone should know the value of using language to convey an accurate message to your audience. Sloppy language makes for misleading news, the same goes for anecdotal stories.

Good point. I hereby accept your admonishment and pledge to do better in the future.

[Modelexis]

Wise choice my son.

[mrsingh]

RIP Senna, there is no doubt he changed the sport and his loss is one that was felt by all.