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FormulaNerds had insight into how the impressive Ayrton Senna tribute came together at the Silverstone Festival.Â?
The Ayrton Senna tribute at the Silverstone Festival showcased a spectacular display of the legendary Brazilian’s career. Featuring iconic machinery from across his involvement in motorsport, the exhibition perfectly encapsulated the three-time world champion’s life.
Fans could see go-karts, early formula cars, and seven of out of his nine iconic F1 cars. A few unexpected and rare edition cars were also included. These included road cars that Senna either tested or helped refine ahead of production.
A special media event on Saturday saw the Senna family arrive in garage one. All seven cars stood proudly on display in special moment for all involved. It is unlikely a similar collection will be under one roof again. Fans were delighted as the Senna’s engaged with them, taking time to talk and answer questions about Ayrton. We spoke to both Bruno and Lalalli about their memories of Ayrton.
The tribute culminated with two of his F1 cars taking to the track on Sunday. Fans watched in awe as Senna’s first two F1 cars were brought into the preparation area. The 1984 Toleman and 1985 Lotus looked stunning, with crowds descending on the cars but keeping a respectful distance from these pieces of history.
Securing the cars
We spoke to the curator of this fantastic exhibition, Mark Constanduros, to understand the effort needed to create this tribute. He revealed the scale of the task:
“Well, it took 10 months to create and required a lot of research, with cars being sourced from all over the world. It was a huge privilege to be able to do this, and it certainly had its challenges. I think finding the Karts and early cars was the tricky part but having 70 cars identified, I then had to find out who owned them and would they be prepared to display their car.
“It was also important to tell the story of Ayrton’s rise through the ranks of British motorsport, which meant certain cars had to be with us if possible. The nice part was most owners wanted to be part of the event if they could, and in the end, we were able to tell the story.”
The 1985 Ford Sierra Cosworth and 1989 Honda NSX were two very rare cars included in the exhibition. The Ford was driven by Senna on a special rally stage in 1986 and is one of just six prototypes. The NSX is also one of a kind, as it was only the second car of its type to arrive in the UK in 1989. Senna used his famed skills to refine the car ahead of launch.
Securing these cars proved difficult, as Constanduros explains:
“That was a fascinating sub-story, really. Ayrton doing the test in Wales is one of those stories that was very well known but was never revisited until this year when I found two of the cars, the Sierra and 6R4, and suggested we went back to the same location if we could find it.
“Well, after a while, we did find two potential locations, and the actual one was then identified by someone who was in the area and went to check it. We then took the cars back and recreated that photo, albeit most of the cars no longer existed.”
Involving the Senna family
Bruno and Lalalli Senna’s participation in the festival elevated the tribute to a new level. Constanduros explained the importance of their attendance and the scale of their involvement:
“I think it is always important to have people as well as cars to tell the stories, and Bruno was the obvious one to invite. I wanted to have some sculptures with us as part of the memorabilia in the Museum and Senna Brands said that Lalalli was a sculpturist and that we might be able to have some of her creations of Ayrton.
“The story behind these is amazing and can be seen on her website, and I knew that somehow they needed to play a part. Anyway, two of the sculptures were offered, and then, not long after, Lalalli said she would like to join us.
“So we were able to do lots of things like interviews, photos and autographs sessions as well as visit the museum on the Thursday and Friday with Lalalli and then Bruno on Saturday.
Constanduros said when asked about the cars, they now have an addition to their story from their inclusion at the festival. He also revealed the owners of these pieces of history all received a very special gift following their demo runs:
“Well I think they all have, being part of this has been very very special. So to have your car on display as part of the largest ever gathering of Ayrton’s cars is something that will form part of the cars history and we gave them all the display boards as a keep sake.”
Feature Image Credit: FormulaNerds via James Phillips