It’s very easy to use the phrase ‘transcended the sport’, but in the case of three-time Formula 1 world champion Senna there is no doubting the accuracy of what can often be a trite cliche.
It’s hard to believe that it’s 30 years this week since the 1994 San Marino GP tragedy took him from the world. Even in an era of swashbuckling heroes, the brutality of his sudden loss sent shockwaves around the world far beyond the motorsport fraternity. He meant so much to so many people.
And he still does. Senna was already becoming active in charitable work at the time of his death, and the Senna Institute lives on in his name three decades later. As part of our tribute, James Allen talks to Senna’s niece Bianca about the work she and the family are continuing.
We also ask figures from around the world of motorsport about that fateful day – the archetypal ‘everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news’ moment. Two-time world champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, who was a friend of Senna’s, leads the recollections.
And David Brabham eloquently recalls the loss of his much-loved team-mate Roland Ratzenberger on the same weekend.
Of course, life goes on and no more so than in the world of motorsport. The rain finally abated to get three (well, two and a bit) British Touring Car Championship races in at Donington Park last weekend. Marcus Simmons was there to see the 2024 BTCC contest kick-off.
The support races provided drama too, as Stephen Lickorish reports in our National section, which also includes extensive coverage of the three-hour British GT encounter at Silverstone.
Stefan Mackley headed further afield, to Monaco, for the Formula E round. The form of Jaguar in claiming a dominant and strategically perfect 1-2 is looking very ominous for the opposition.
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