Senna

I was lucky enough to see the Senna film a few weeks ago in a rather plush cinema in Hampstead. Watching his life unfold it reminded me of my first Grand Prix. It’s not often you get to see your heroes at their very best, especially one as gifted as Ayrton Senna, but this is something I’ll appreciate forever.

I was 10 years old in 1993 and I remember sitting in my Grandpa’s living room in Leeds watching qualifying for the European Grand Prix at Donnington. I was looking forward to the race, all weather reports indicated it was going to be a wet race which increased my excitement. My favourite driver was great in the wet, Ayrton Senna was absolutely awesome in the wet.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I was told I wouldn’t be able to watch it. Apparently we were going to be out for the race. If memory recalls correctly I was probably about to complain and ask if I could stay home until my Dad took out an envelope. Inside were tickets to the race, I found it very hard to utter a word for a while after.

On a cold damp April morning, having hardly slept we arrived at Donnington just as the morning warm up commenced. I raced down to the side of the track on a little straight just past the Craner Curves, it was only half an hour, but it was immense. I hadn’t appreciated just how loud and fast these cars were in real life.

There are many articles that document this race. All I remember is staying in exactly the same spot through the entire Grand Prix. The rest of my family had a wonder around the track but I didn’t want to miss a lap. At the start they flashed by in an instant, but I’d spotted the bright yellow crash helmet of Senna and he was already making the moves that history would say was one of the greatest opening laps of all time.

Through rain, sun, four pit stops no one could live him, not his greatest Formula 1 rival Alain Prost, not Michael Schumacher who at the time I thought would surely be Senna’s next challenge. He literally disappeared in to the distance, and I stared intently not wishing to miss a moment. On his victory lap he waved to the crowd, I waved back as he slowly drove past, obviously elated. I couldn’t believe my first race and my favourite driver had won. I was already asking my Dad if we could go to the British Grand Prix in 1994 to see him again.

This is how I’ll remember Senna. For all his faults, he had a natural gift that he pushed to the limit, sometimes beyond. His drive and passion as a racing driver is what I’ll remember.  Not his death, not his crashes with Prost, but when I was 10, I saw him lap after lap, the yellow crash helmet appearing through the spray, driving with skill no one else could match. To paraphrase Senna, to me if felt like ‘pure racing’. Like the film, it was beautiful to watch.

If you were a fan, or if you never witnessed him racing at the time, I urge you to go and see the film. It’s not just a racing film, but about a person who appreciated life and made the most of what he made come his way. It’s about the life of one of the best sportsmen, one of the greatest most driven people the world has ever seen.