Senna drives a Penske.

[Marbles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5pwFSjO5bs

I posted this originally in a reply in an Indycar thread but I thought a few people here may be interested in this.

If I remember the timeline correctly I believe Mansell had already signed with Newman\Haas and now Senna was taking a Penske for a spin. This probably had more to do with sponsors than anything else but I think Senna's contract with Mclaren close to expiration so it created a bit of a stir at the time.

I'd be interested if anyone here could give me a brief outline on what they're saying.

[00steven]

That is really cool.

[gm99]

Can't help you with the translation, but there is an interesting comment by "ChampCarforlife" on your youtube link, saying that Senna was scheduled to race in the 1994 Indy 500 for Penske and listing as source Emerson Fittipaldi in Adrianna Galisteu's book. Anyone know that book and would care to elaborate on that?

Personally, I think it's utter BS. The 1994 Indy 500 was held on May 29 and thus on the same day as the F1 Spanish GP at Barcelona. I very much doubt that Frank Williams would indeed have approved Senna to miss a race in the F1 championship to race at Indy, nor would I think that Rothmans would have been very delighted to see Senna race a Marlboro Team Penske car. Also, opening day at Indy was barely a week after Imola, and with Senna most likely having to go through rookie orientation at the Speedway, so surely something would have leaked by then.

[markabilly]

i think there was talk to boost his contract dealings, but not an actual deal; although for the Indy money pot--big money for one race---, well maybe he would have skipped monaco

[wedge]

Part contract negotiations with McLaren and part disillusionment with driver aids.

The test was at Firebird Raceway, arranged by Emmo.

Emmo's crew chief, Rick Rinaman:


"So out he went, warmed the car for a couple of laps, came back in and said everything was all right. Out he went again and stood on it for two laps - a track he's never been on, a car he's never been in - and in about three laps he was quicker than Emerson (chuckle). I mean, everybody was just in awe. Back he came and of course, everybody, the engineers, myself, and Rick Mears gathered around the car to hear his comments on it. Listening to this guy explain what this car was doing was unbelievable. The guy was able to tell you things about what the car was doing that I had never heard our drivers explain before. He was telling us when the ground effects would give up, when the suspension was working and when the downforce was working. It was an amazing amount of information he gave to us in about five minutes. He left an impression on everybody there which was like when are you coming over here? (chuckle)"

Senna interviewed by Road & Track magazine circa 1993:


"Everything was very new to me. I had to get used to driving with a gear lever again, to a clutch pedal, to the turbo engine, and to the brakes, which are completely different from those in F1, not being carbon brakes."

"The Penske reminded me of the old days in Formula 1 where human side was the most important thing. Today Formula 1 is so sophisticated that the computers do most of the driving for you. If you have a clever computer, you are in good shape; if you have a monkey one, you’re in trouble, you know? What I experienced with the Indy car was that human input has a tremendous value – and I really got excited about it,”

[Malbec]

Ayrton Senna tests Penske Indy Car at Firebird Raceway in 1992 (www.motorracingblog.nl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5pwFSjO5bs)) - YouTube

I posted this originally in a reply in an Indycar thread but I thought a few people here may be interested in this.

If I remember the timeline correctly I believe Mansell had already signed with Newman\Haas and now Senna was taking a Penske for a spin. This probably had more to do with sponsors than anything else but I think Senna's contract with Mclaren close to expiration so it created a bit of a stir at the time.

I'd be interested if anyone here could give me a brief outline on what they're saying.

I always had the impression that Senna was more curious about other forms of motorsport rather than looking genuinely at switching over to them. There is a fantastic article written by the now sadly deceased Russell Bulgin talking about his experience of testing rally cars with Senna just before he hit stardom in 1986, he was always looking to broaden his horizons.