Ayrton Senna da Silva was a three-time Formula 1 World Champion , a great Brazilian superstar and the last pilot to die directly in a racing car in this discipline. Today we will see how he coped with another motoring industry, with rally . He was not the only one who went through both experiences ( Robert Kubica , Kimi Räikkönen , Stéphane Sarrazin or Vic Elford ). Senna was allowed to test several rally cars in 1986 by the British magazine CARS and CAR CONVERSIONS . According to his words, he knew nothing about the rally. He saw photos and videos, but he didn't want to hear any advice, he wanted to figure out the competitions himself.
The magazine gave him a really diverse mix of cars of the time. From Group A , he had the Vauxhall Nova with a 1.3 L engine, the second generation Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth available. From the then top class B, he drove an MG Metro 6R4 in Clubman specification with power limited to 250 hp. And finally, he was able to test the special Ford Escort Cosworth 3.4 V6 4WD.
You need to approach rallying in the most comprehensive way of all motorsport disciplines. Rally really requires maximum concentration as you rush down a narrow slippery forest road at high speed in a racing car. That is why it is interesting how Ayrton directly reacted to such an experience.
He couldn't get used to the fact that the car doesn't follow a clean track on the gravel and that he has to constantly adjust the steering. Even though he learned his route after a while, he still couldn't always repeat his passage exactly the same. The whole time behind the wheel, he was not completely sure and improvised a lot, moreover, he realized that he did not have much room for error and took more risks than he was used to. He also found rallying much more exciting than circuit racing, including Formula 1. Although he rarely reached top speed, he was enthusiastic about the acceleration of racing specials.
##SennaRally##
Photo: motorsportretro.com, farzadsf1gallery.com, f1knopfelgp.blogspot.com
