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I was very young when Senna rised and fell, and my main passion has always been football anyway. My knowledge on Formula1 is as lame as my skiing abilities (I am afraid of snow).

But I do remember that Ayrton Senna was something. He could put children - like me - in front of the tv for hours on a sunday morning watching cars go 'round a track ... because it was certain that at the end we´d see him waving the brazilian flag our of the car, crossing the final line, winning again, and he´s make a big mess with that giant bottle of champagne...

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An e-mail exchange with my vt-friend <a href="http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/.214616/1?s=t">phil_uk_net</a href> gave me the idea of building this travelogue. He was congratulating me for Barrichello´s victory and I was telling him that since Senna died, F1 causes no commotion, although the press is trying madly to achor him to be the new national hero.

There was something about Senna...

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Maybe the fact that he was very shy - unlikely characteristic on brazilian heroes - and never bragged. Or that he was simple. Simple on his words... discrete, to the limits of possibilities, about his life.

There was passion in his eyes, you could see it. You could feel your heart in that car with him. You would be watching a race and leaning to the sides at every curve.

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I remember the ritual. Every saturday we´d go - me and my sister - to my aunt´s place and sleep early so we could see Senna the next morning.

There would be extra snacks on our suplies and we waited anxiously for the time the tv guy would go "Go, Ayrton.... go Ayrton... go Ayyyyyyyrrtoon Sennnnaaa of Brazill!" and his little song would start to play... the song of Senna´s victory. Until today when that tune is played, most people get tears in their eyes...

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The day Senna died... I can still remember. Strangely he was wearing his yellow helmet and my sister thought that was bad luck. For some strange reason we didn´t go to my aunt´s place. I remember one race before there had been a serious accident with another driver and as this day´s started I said : "Well, let´s see who´s dying today"...

Not long after that, the tv man commented that he thought Senna looked extra thoughtful... and seconds later he would simply not turn the steer wheel and hit on the curve... Tamburello.

We were all shocked and silent... and I said "Oh my God, Senna will die!" and my sister was crying and saying it was my fault... tragicomic scene... So there came a helicopter... and for hours they tried to save him... in vain.

His burial was great as a king´s. Ayrton Senna is irreplaceable.

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He died at the GP Sanmarino, 1994, on the 7th lap...

Some said it was a failure in the machinery of the car, others say the wheel bar broke... and some believe it was suicide.

I am among the last ones. He really looked strange that day and you could feel a sad thing is his voice lately. He had no privacy left, women dated him to get access to media he was loved by all and by none at the same time. I don´t know. Too much fame and geniosity for a kid...

Thing is some weeks after he died, his last girlfriend Adriane Galisteu released a book (worst ever written) called "In the path of butterflies" telling all about her intimate life with Senna. It didn´t take long til she was on Playboy and hosting her own tv show.

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Facts about Senna´s life and career:

Born:
March 21st , 1960

Died:
May 1st, 1994

Seasons: 11
Races: 161
Wins: 41
Poles: 65
Fastest laps: 19
Points: 614
F1 titles: 3
Podium places: 80

After his death, Senna's family uses big part of his money to support and finance an institution that helps the education and labor tuition of thousands of children, has orphanages... It's the Instituto Ayrton Senna.

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Pages I used to build this one:

<a href="http://www.sennadasilva.com/index_online.html" target=_new>Senna da Silva homepage </a href>

<a href="http://senna.globo.com/institutoayrtonsenna/" target=_new> Instituto Ayrton Senna</a href>

<a href="http://www.motorrace.de/Foto-Galerie/Ayrton_Senna/ayrton_senna.php3" target=_new> Senna's pics </a href?

<a href="http://www.ayrton-senna.com/s-files/start.html" target=_new> About Senna's death - The "S" files </a href>

<a href="http://www.f1-grandprix.com/senna.html" target=_new> Formula One - Art and Genius </a href>

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E-MAILING

<font color=red><b>more contributions by Phil:</b></font color>

<i>From: phil_uk_net <phil_uk_net@VirtualTourist.com>
Date: Mon Jun 24 13:13:04 2002
To: martinelli@VirtualTourist.com
Subject: Re: Brazil by martinelli


I saw on the VT front page "martinelli just built a new Brazil page" so I looked straight away!
The other driver that died in practise the day before was Roland Ratzenberger. I remember that when this happened Senna was quite outspoken about safety issues.
So you think it may have been suicide? I'm not so sure. Senna was such a winner I find it difficult to think he would take his own life. I don't suppose we will ever know for sure but I suspect it was the car. My theory is that he lost the 'ground effect' temporarily that provides downforce and this was why the car didn't go around the corner.
But you may well be right ...

P.
</i>