Ayrton Senna was more than a great racing driver: he was a giant of a man who, a decade after his death, is still mourned as no sportsman has ever been. Much has been written about him already, but this all-new book approaches the subject with a powerfully different focus. More than 120 people who knew him, worked with him and competed against him were asked a simple question: what is your strongest memory of Senna? The result, told entirely in direct quotes, stands as an intimate, heartfelt portrait of the man, from his early days as a karter to his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. A number of people approached to give memories have never spoken publicly about Senna before. Many, in revealing the time they spent with him, recall moments that shed new light on Senna’s mythology. Here are not just Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley but café proprietor Ed Devlin, whose wife cut young Senna’s hair in her kitchen. Here are not just Ron Dennis and Sir Frank Williams but Robin Green and Dennis Rushden who ran Senna in the early days, and Tim Hill who felt awed when Senna drove a rally car through the Welsh hills. Here are not just Gerhard Berger, Rubens Barrichello and Martin Brundle but commercial director Richard West who shares with us the happy note Senna wrote him the moment he signed for Williams. Professor Sid Watkins who wishes he had managed to persuade Senna to retire and come fishing, and a French driver call Eric Bernard, held for ever by a moment of kindness. Many people have opened their photograph albums to provide personal snapshots published here for the first time. Others have loaned their mementoes. These are set against a backdrop of the work of professional photographers and a gifted cartoonist. It adds up to a deeply touching, sometimes surprising always fascinating portrayal of the man who will never be forgotten. Hardback 160pp |