Is this Senna story true?

[Civic]

I don't know if I saw this story here back in 2004 when everyone was talking about Senna's 10th anniversary of his death.



As we approach the 10th anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna, I thought I would share a moment that still causes me to shake my head to this day.

In 1990 I was in Montreal for the GP, working with a team in one of the supporting events. Our race was scheduled for Saturday afternoon immediately after F1 Qualifying. I rode a 4-wheeler on the access road that runs along the Olympic Rowing Basin beside the track on the way to pit lane, and decided to stop at the final chicane and take in the final minutes of F1 Qualifying.

In those days the final chicane was much more open than today and was extremely fast. I stood up on the handlebars of the four wheeler so I could just barely peek over the top of the catch fencing right at the turn-in point for the chicane. There aren't many places in the F1 world where you can get that close to cars running at top speed.

It's the final few minutes of qualifying, and here come the greatest drivers in the world - Prost, Mansell, Piquet, Senna - and everyone is braking and changing down one gear from top gear right under my nose.

In the final minute, Senna approaches the corner and I hear a slight lift, maybe a bit of left foot braking, but no downchange. He smokes through the chicane and I hear the announcer say he's taken pole by a half second over Prost. After he passes, the checkered flag comes out and he's the last car on the track. Here he comes again, but this time there's no change in engine note at all as he absolutely flies through the chicane completely flat out, taking pole by over a second.

Here are the greatest drivers in the world, and all but one are changing down a gear for the corner. And that one driver manages to streak through that chicane not only without a downshift, but with his amazing foot flat to the floor at something close to 200mph.

Needless to say I was stunned, but totally unprepared for what was to come next. A few minutes later I was walking on the sidewalk behind the F1 pits on the way to the support race grid, and out of the Goodyear tent pops Senna, headed straight for me on the narrow sidewalk.

As we passed, I managed to stammer out a "great lap" comment. Senna stopped, grunted "thanks", then looked at me for a moment as if trying to remember me. A wry smile came over his face and he said the words I will never forget -

"You're the guy looking over the fence."

He grinned, knowing he had just blown my mind, turned and walked off.



I'm wondering if this story is true or some kind of urban legend. If it is true, does anyone know who the story teller is? A young family friend is doing a report on Senna and would like to use this story but can't without a proper source.

[blito]

Great story, but sadly not true.
The final chicane has always been fairly tight, requiring several downshifts to negotiate it succesfully.

[harsha]

i won't comment on whether the story is true or not

but it's a great story nevertheless

[ArrowsFA1]

Not so sure about 'flat out through the chicane' but the part about Senna's awareness of his surroundings rings true. I remember comments about the level of detail with which he could describe each and every lap to his engineers; not just general observations about the car's behaviour but a corner by corner analysis.

I don't think Senna is alone in this. The very best drivers seem to have some extra capacity to take in everything they observe and do, everything the car is doing, analyse it, and react to it, all in split seconds, then recall it in detail.

[PolePosition_1]

I don't think that chicane has changed that much since then, so just can't see how he'd have gone flat out at the end of a 180+mph straight.

Whilst you obviously cannot deny Senna's talent, I do feel that his presence within F1 has been viewed in a totally one sided version, and understandably I guess, he was one of the best of all time, and died doing what he loved and was so great at, it automatically blanks out the 'not so good'.

And this story is a classic viewpoint, in that it gives out the impression the man was a saint, better than the best by a mile.

[Bruce D]

I think that last chichane is tighter than it used to be in say the mid 80's before they moved the pits - I think they made it slightly tighter when the pits moved to there, but still it was a little quicker than today due to the kerbs being positioned differently, the corner is slower now but I doubt he took it flat.

As for his ability to notice and recall things, thats legend definately. I remember a story with, I think, Frank Dernie sharing a flight with Senna at the beginning of '94 and Frank was remembering Senna's first F1 test in a Williams in '84 and Senna could remember all the settings of the car and lap times!

[K-Pu]

Sounds like an urban legend, maintly becuase of the way it is told.

[D-Type]

It may not have happened at that particular location, but the essence of the story is probably true. Certainly all the top drivers seem to have this ability to be uncanilly aware of their surroundings. Denis Jenkinson told a similar story of being in a spectator area at Spa with a driver during practice and another driver who had seen them as he flashed by asking him what they had been chatting about.

To a lesser extent we mere mortals can occasionally experience a similar phenomenon to a lesser degree when we cash a flash of something when driving and rememberthe details: a fox's head, a pretty girl's outfit, etc.

I think your young friend could use the story as there is unlikely to be a copyright issue. If he took out the references to a particular circuit and identifying details there shouldn't be a problem.

[ChrisS]

The facts of the story seem wrong,

If I found my info correctly Saturday qualifying was wet and pretty much irrelevant for pole as much faster times were set on the Friday qualifying session.

Also McLarens were 1-2 at the grid with Senna leading Berger by just 0.066 not over 1 sec

[chuck34]

As many have said, the details of the story may not be right. But the essence is probably there.

I have heard a similar story about AJ Foyt at the Indy Fairgrounds dirt track. I guess there was some reporter down in the infield watching. Foyt recognized him as someone who he didn't particularly like and flipped him the bird. All this while sliding sideways, on dirt, at over 100mph.

I'm sure all the "greats" have some story that goes along the same lines.