When a young bloke called Ayrton Senna da Silva got a seat at Toleman for the 1984 season, the king motorsport was never the same again. After a little stint at Lotus, the Brazilian prodigy got to show his talent to the fullest at McLaren from 1988 to 1993.
During the notorious Senna vs. Prost era of Formula 1, TV and newspaper coverage of the sport rocketed to lengths Bernie Ecclestone never before imagined. As a brief reminder, the late 1980s was a time when the 1.5 turbo Honda mill that powered the McLaren MP4/4 developed an outstanding 1,200 ponies in qualifying trim according to the industry’s reports.
Couple that grunt with a six-speed manual gearbox, little aerodynamic downforce and an uncanny lack of safety offered by the carbon fiber body shell and you can understand why the late 1980s is regarded as the last hurrah of proper Formula 1 racing.
Compared to today’s “Team, tell the marshals Rosberg cut that corner and demand a 5-second drive-thru penalty,” Formula 1 racing back then was a heck of a lot more thrilling and exciting to watch.
Out of all the iconic drivers from that time, Senna is widely considered as being the drivers’ driver. Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and even young guns such as Fernando Alonso claim the previously mentioned, so go figure at what kind of following Ayrton has to the present day.
Many Senna enthusiasts wanted official apparel with the legend’s name or logo on it for years in order to show how much they appreciate the man, and boy you’re all in for a pretty neat online store we’ve found out about via Automarket.ro.
The website can be found at ayrtonsennashop.com and features everything from hats to USB drives, jackets to polo shirts, replica helmets to coffee mugs. Keep in mind though transport will cost you a few bucks if you live outside of Germany, the home country of the store that sells these licensed articles.
Couple that grunt with a six-speed manual gearbox, little aerodynamic downforce and an uncanny lack of safety offered by the carbon fiber body shell and you can understand why the late 1980s is regarded as the last hurrah of proper Formula 1 racing.
But many people didn’t watch races every Sunday for what the output of those single seaters
Most kicked back on their couches to see whether Senna or Prost will win that weekend’s Grand Prix, be it fair and square racing or shoving the other in the gravel pit.Compared to today’s “Team, tell the marshals Rosberg cut that corner and demand a 5-second drive-thru penalty,” Formula 1 racing back then was a heck of a lot more thrilling and exciting to watch.
Out of all the iconic drivers from that time, Senna is widely considered as being the drivers’ driver. Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and even young guns such as Fernando Alonso claim the previously mentioned, so go figure at what kind of following Ayrton has to the present day.
Many Senna enthusiasts wanted official apparel with the legend’s name or logo on it for years in order to show how much they appreciate the man, and boy you’re all in for a pretty neat online store we’ve found out about via Automarket.ro.
The website can be found at ayrtonsennashop.com and features everything from hats to USB drives, jackets to polo shirts, replica helmets to coffee mugs. Keep in mind though transport will cost you a few bucks if you live outside of Germany, the home country of the store that sells these licensed articles.