In any given sport, at any given time, at any given moment, there is someone who is considered to be 'the best'. Someone who competitors want to beat, who they look up to and want to measure themselves against, because they are considered to be brilliant, almost perfect in what they do. But, even then, only the fewest of this rare breed rise up to being absolute sporting greats, hero figures that stand out from the rest; with their talent, their skillset, their attitude, their personality, their appearance, their influence on the sport and on society itself. One does not even have to be a fan of a particular sport to be aware of these extraordinary people, as their story is conveyed to others by everyone else.
Yet out of this small bunch, this tiny amount of athletes that will be remembered for generations, there is one particular person that stands out, one who trumps them all, someone so unmatched that he will be remembered until kingdom come.
It's funny how you forget many memories from your childhood, but a couple of them stick around. Like the one in which my grandfather cut my birthday cake with the big "5" drawn with cream on top of it. Or the one when I was 6, on the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. The race was about to start when my mother asked me whether I wanted to watch it or not, and I remember saying that I didn't, because it would be boring, because "Senna is going to win, anyway". I went out in the garden to play, but at some point during the next two hours, I would sneak back in, sit on the two steps that seperated our dining room with our TV room, turn on the TV, and watch the race. When it was over, I remember my mom coming back into the house and asking me who won. "Senna, of course!", I shouted, and I was grinning furiously. I remember it like it was yesterday.
I did not know back then what made me a fan. Or what made any other person a fan, from all over the world. My country had it's own stars, bright in publicity, other countries as well. Yet my family, and other people all around the world were always Senna-fans. His presence, his personality shined above everything else; you always knew that he would always stay on top of things. And you always knew that he always wanted to stay on top of things. His attitude to the human mind, and to the experience of living itself, what it entails, what you can do with your life, the process of learning and progress, and what you can achieve if you truly fight for it, is unrivaled and will probably always be. It does not matter if you are a professional football player, a professional StarCraft player, or a professional chess player - for any competitor, in any competition, you will improve a lot by looking at Senna's philosophy.
Twenty year's ago today, on the 1st of May in 1994, I was 11, almost 12. We were at my aunt's place for brunch, and afterwards gathered in front of the TV in order to watch the San Marino Grand Prix. There was a huge start accident, after which we decided to leave, because it needed some time cleaning up, and we would be home in time for the restart. As soon as we got home, I turned on the TV and sat down upon the aforementioned 2 steps in our living room, on which I previously watched all of Senna's victories. As the TV was building up the pictures, I saw my hero crash into the wall at Tamburello. I couldn't believe it, something had to have gone wrong. And as the medical and rescue personal arrived and were not able to make any progress on the site of the accident, I started to worry. He was not going to walk away. My family was not concerned, they told me he would get up soon and race along in his spare car. And they were not telling me this just to soothe me; I recently talked to my dad and he admitted that he thought that Senna would be invincible - literally.
I could not believe it back then, and I still can not believe it today. When I read the name 'Senna' on an Internet forum, i feel absolutely gutted and completely devastated. His way of life, however, continues to strife in most of us. And, hopefully, in you, as well. His own charity, the Ayrton Senna foundation, helped educate millions of underprivileged children; and today we know that he donated around $400 million (!!!) of his accumulated fortune until his time of death in 1994.
In the previous video, a documentary about Senna was mentioned. It was published in 2010, is simply called 'Senna', and it is one of the highest rated movies of all time on IMDB. The 106-minute version of it is available on Netflix, but there is a 165-minute Director's Cut available which is called "Senna - Beyond the Speed of Sound". I beg you all to go download the Director's Cut and activate English subtitles.
Ayrton Senna, March 21st 1960 - May 1st 1994
Ayrton Senna was gifted and talented, probably like nobody else. People thought he was a god. But the thing that really makes him the greatest is the fact that he was no god at all, but a human, just like all of us. The lesson Senna taught us is that if you want to achieve something, then work for it. Make yourself want it, and fight for it, dedicate yourself to it. If Senna can do it, you can do it, too. But nothing has ever come easy.
I remember the day he died. May 1st here is day off to celebrate worker's day, I was participating in an event when news reached telling that senna had died. Man... my life changed.
Every sunday morning (almost every race here is in sunday morning) I used to wake up early just to watch senna racing. He was inspiring. Even today I take to heart some of his sayings. F1 never was the same to me and never will be.
Nice write-up. I followed F1 when Häkkinen faced Damon Hill, Villeneuve and Schumacher, so Senna was a bit before my time, but I'm gonna watch the documentary.
On May 01 2014 07:31 CountChocula wrote: Nice write-up. I followed F1 when Häkkinen faced Damon Hill, Villeneuve and Schumacher, so Senna was a bit before my time, but I'm gonna watch the documentary.
F1 is a lot more subdued in the states, but I'm a big fan of racing games, so eventually I picked up the F1 20xx series and learned about Senna. On youtube, he's driving and it looks like his tires are literally going through the walls at Monaco. It's unreal. I know part of it is photoshopped / after effects, but the actual race videos are crazy. I read up on him and how good he was, and it's just amazing that somebody can be so dominant. And F1, it's really a precision endurance sport, for both body and mind.
This is a fantastic blog, I'll fully admit I have no interest in F1, but I will watch the documentary. Absolutely brilliant blog, very touching and thought provoking.
at first, when I read the word senna, I thought you were talking about a laxative until I read the rest of the blog >.> Maybe add in the last name as well just incase?
On May 01 2014 12:58 itsjustatank wrote: the name needs no other qualification
if you say so. My knowledge is 0 when it comes to racing so that's the only thing that came to mind but I'm also not as into sports as others so maybe I'm in the minority here.
This really enlightened me. This guy was an absolute beast, and his crash photos are shocking. I didn't even know who he was or how great he was, but one clip in I could tell this guy was something special and I don't know a thing about the sport. Thank you for writing this up.
The documentary is awesome, remember watching it in the cinema on release. You don't even need to know anything about F1 or have ever watched it to enjoy it it still delivers "dem feels".
Just FYI, I watch a lot of docus (like hundreds for the last decade) and one of the best docus I've ever seen is 'Senna' and I know fuck all about racing (or care), it was just a really well made docu.
It was up on YT for like a year, and just recently got taken down (probably because they noticed all the increase in traffic to it since it was reposted everywhere).
I live in the town where Senna crashed (Imola) and this weekend is full of things in his honour. The racing track is open to people, the park near it has some stands etc. It is really nice.
As a Brazilian who never cared for races and don't know anything about Senna at all (except he died in an car accident), its absurd how he still is extremely popular today. The country literally stopped every Sunday to watch him.
I still don't know why people like F1. I've been to two F1 Grand Prix and couldn't handle the boredom. Its funny thought because I can sit at home watching golf with much excitement while other people would doze off. To each their own.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PawNXMw.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/hjaYaIl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5Igdg4W.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wNIXaRc.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/sm1HpMc.jpg)
