Ayrton Senna
CLICK ON THE PICTURE
BELOW FOR PICTURES OF
THE CAR IN WHICH SENNA DIED
Biography
Vital Stats
Born: March 21, 1960
Died: May 1, 1994
Place of Birth: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Resides in: Monte Carlo / Sao Paulo
Height: 5 foot 9 inches
Weight: 155 lbs
First Race: Age 13 in Go-Karts (got first Kart at age 4)
First Race Car: 1981 - van Diemen Formula Ford 1600
First Sucess: 1977 Panamerica Kart Champion
Most Memorable Moment: Clinching the 1988 World Championship
The Life of the Great Ayrton Senna
by Brian Hamilton
Ayrton Senna was born a prince, destined to become king of auto racing. Ayrton Senna won an incredible twenty-five percent of the Formula One events he entered. Even more impressive than his winning percentage over the 10 year period he competed, was his pole position percentage. Ayrton started from pole position forty percent of the time, and started from the first row a whopping fifty-two percent of the time. Ayrton Senna could have been king of the auto racing world had his life not been cut short on that awful May first in 1994.
On March 21, 1960 the young prince was born Ayrton Senna da Silva in a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The son of Neide F. Senna and Milton da Silva, a wealthy middle-class business man, Ayrton had advantages many other young Brazilian children didn’t. He had decent living conditions, no economic problems, and was guided toward the right roads at decisive points in his life.
As a child he was quite a clumsy boy. He had poor coordination when walking, running, and climbing stairs. As a result of his clumsiness young Ayrton developed a family nickname of "Beco". This was such a problem that Ayrton was taken to a specialist, but the results of tests revealed that there were no problems.
At age four Ayrton’s father Milton gave young Ayrton a small one horsepower engine go-kart, made by Milton in his metal shop. The reasoning for this was Ayrton infatuation with cars. He adored them, and was already able to drive his father’s car. Although one could see that Ayrton was a born racer, school still came first. If Milton and Neide didn’t find the work completed at school satisfactory the would be on week-ends on the ranch, in the pool, playing soccer, or worst of all driving his little go-kart.
Ayrton’s father was one of important figures in Ayrton’s life. At a very early age Milton taught Ayrton responsibility and commitment, showing them that hard work, sacrifice, and honesty are the most important qualities in a man’s life. The go-kart was a reward for his hard work, any Ayrton made the best out of the go-kart he had my pushing it to the limit of the machine all the time.
Ayrton has always been determined to become a Formula One driver. He was so determined that he put his goal in a school essay. This made his father very proud of Ayrton’s dedication, and Milton rewarded Ayrton with a new "real" go-kart. At the age of eight Ayrton received his first "real" go-kart. Milton began to take Ayrton to the go-kart track at Interlagos, and Ayrton soon realized what a special place Interlagos was. Ayrton took every chance he had to practice at Interlagos.
Ayrton showed his extreme dedication to the sport of auto racing by taking every opportunity to test and work on his go-kart. Not only was he an intense driver, but he was also an intense mechanic. He was extremely persistent and attentive, able to work on one specific area of the go-kart until it was perfection. Ayrton always wanted to know what he had under him while he was driving. Thanks to his mechanical abilities he was able to beat out drivers with better equipment by using 100 percent of his finely tuned go-kart.
Ayrton’s first go-kart race, a private event, was at the age of eight. The competed against other drivers that were fifteen, eighteen, and even twenty. They drew numbers to determine grid positions, and the young Ayrton drew the number one. He was on the pole for his first ever race, only a taste of things to come. Ayrton was young and light, therefore his go-kart was the fastest of all. Do to this advantage Ayrton led the race until the fifteenth lap when he was overtaken. Ayrton managed a good first showing until, three laps from the end, he was touched from the rear, and knocked out of the race.
