Ayrton Senna
The Formula One Hero
Ayrton Senna observes the performance of his adversary after his abandonment in the first lap following a collision with the Benetton car of Michael Schumacher at the time of the GP of France to the Circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours on July 05, 1992.
Here's a time line of Ayrton's life:
- 1960 - Born on Monday, 21 March in the Pro-Matre Maternity Hospital of Santana, a neighbourhood of São Paulo.
- 1973 - His first kart was built by his father using a small 1-HP lawnmower engine. Senna started racing at Interlagos and entered a karting competition.
- 1977 - Senna went on to win the South American Kart Championship and graduated from Colegio Rio Branco in the São Paulo neighbourhood of Higienópolis.
- 1981 - Ayrton moved to Eaton near Norwich in England to begin single-seater racing, winning the RAC and Townsend Thoresen Formula Ford 1600 Championships that year with the Van Diemen team.
- 1983 - He drove in the British Formula Three Championship for the West Surrey Racing team. He dominated the first half of the season until Martin Brundle, driving a similar car for Eddie Jordan Racing, closed the gap in the second part of the championship.
- 1984 - Senna made his debut in Formula 1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, where he qualified 17th, but retired when the Hart 415T turbocharger failed on lap 8.
- 1988 - He won his first world title in 1988 driving that season's dominant McLaren MP4/4.
- 1991 - Senna became the youngest ever three-time world champion, taking seven wins and increasing his pole position record to 60 from 127 events.
- 1994 - Ayrton died in an accident while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, driving for the Williams team.
"He was the only opponent I truly respected."
- Alain Prost