Ayrton Senna da Silva born on March 21st 1960 in Sao Paulo was a famous Brazilian Formula One racer. A triple world champion, Senna has secured 65 pole positions out of 161 races, a record that almost stood for 12 years after his death, until Michael Schumacher broke it in 2006. Ayrton adopted his mother's maiden name 'Senna', as da Silva is a very common name in Brazil.
Encouraged by his father, a racing enthusiast, Senna started off karting at the age of four and entered the first karting competition at the age of 13. In 1981 Senna competed in the British Formula Ford 1600 and won in a grand style. Continuing his winning spree Senna won two more European races the following year - the British and European Formula Ford 2000 Championships.
In 1988, Alain Prost fully supported Senna, when he sought to join his McLaren team, not realizing that this would sour their relationship to a point of no return. Senna joined the McLaren team and laid the foundation for thrilling competition between the two that saw dramatic racing incidents on many occasions. That year Prost won 7 out of 16 races while Senna won 8 and clinched the 1988 World Championship title.
In 1989, the fierce competition between the two led to a dramatic collision at the Suzuka track. Ultimately it was Prost who took the 1989 World Championship title from Senna. As their relationship soured, Prost that year left the McLaren to join Ferrari and Senna was joined by Gerhard Berger, the Austrian F1 racer. But the competition between Senna and Prost didn't end there. As the two were in different teams the competition got more fiercer.
Again in 1990, both drivers came face to face at the same track contending for the title. Senna got his pole position ahead of Prost. Yet he couldn't start better and Prost pulled slightly ahead of Senna's McLaren. Senna not to lag behind tried to overtake Alain Prost at the first turn and instead rammed his McLaren into the back of Prost's Ferrari at 170 mph taking both the cars off the track. However in the end, it was Senna who bagged the 1990 Formula One World Champion title. Ayrton Senna, the brilliant racer retained his title in 1991 too.
Ayrton Senna is considered by many as a specialist driver in treacherously wet conditions, which demands greater car control and specialized driving skills, of which he has mastered with greater finesse. His exploits on the racing tracks has wildly delighted millions of F1 fans. Despite his fierce presence on the track Ayrton Senna was a human at heart. He and his teammate Gerhard Berger, the Austrian F1 racer were always seen cutting jokes and pulling each other's legs.
His limitless talent and his indomitable will to win were pretty well present in him till his last race of his life. On 1st May 1994, Ayrton Senna was taking part in the third race of the season, San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola circuit for the Williams-Renault team. Little did he know that it was going to be the last race of his life. Having started from pole position Ayrton Senna raced in his inimitable style but finally crashed at the Tamburello curve that resulted in his death. A glorious career had come to an end and an indomitable spirit to race and win has been silenced forever. The racing world had lost a brilliant racer in Ayrton Senna's death. The whole world mourned especially the people of Brazil who lost a true national icon and hero in Ayrton Senna.
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