Spanning his years as a Formula One racing driver from 1984 to his untimely death a decade later, SENNA explores the life and work of the triple world champion, his physical and spiritual achievements on the track, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he has since attained.

Directed by Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Far North), the film is written by Manish Pandey and produced by James Gay-Rees (Exit Through The Giftshop), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner with Kevin Macdonald (Touching The Void, The Last King of Scotland, State of Play, Eagle) and Manish Pandey serving as executive producers.

The film has been made with the full co-operation of the family of Ayrton Senna, who have given permission for this to be the first documentary feature film about his life; Formula One Management, who have provided footage not previously seen theatrically; and the Ayrton Senna Institute, the charitable foundation established after his death which provides educational opportunities to millions of deprived Brazilian children.


                                               Source: www.facebook.com

A critical element that always has to get organized, well in advance of any Speedhunters' event visit, is trackside access. This often involves writing letters, sending faxes and filling out online accreditation forms. It can be a lot of work, but you really can't attend a motorsports event without special permission to access the restricted access areas. It's the only way to shoot professional quality photos and video footage.

Once you are at an event you also need to plan out where you are going to shoot and make sure you are ready with your camera set up before the cars hit the track. So while attending the WTTC Imola round as special guests of BMW Motorsport, Dino and I knew we wanted to shoot one of the races from turn 1...the Tamburello corner.

Now this is also the exact place where Ayrton Senna's life came to a premature ending on a fateful day in 1994.

We heard there was a memorial to Senna at the corner, but weren't sure what it was going to look like... a plaque maybe? Anyway we set off to Tamburello an hour or so before the start of the WTCC race.

BTW, part of getting in position to shoot car racing, involves finding out how to access the trackside areas. This is normally a bit of an adventure in itself as every track has special gates you have to find to get into circuit.

So after hiking down several access roads and trails we eventually managed to get access to the restricted areas behind Turn one... Tamburello corner.

And this is what we found...

This plaque commemorates Senna and shows his likeness along with some cars driving along a "S" shape. This was somewhat expected.

But what I was not prepared for was all the tributes that people had left at the site.

I suppose if you consider what an icon the man was, I really shouldn't be surprized. Senna was as mesmerizing character as he was a formidable and competitive racing driver.

Each tribute had a deeply personal tone. I couldn't understand the language, but no doubt Senna touched many people's lives and inspired a new generation of racing drivers.

These dead Sunflowers zip tied to the fencing are a fitting statement to the fallen. I can only imagine that these people must have broken into the track at night to leave these mementos behind.

Tied to the fence behind the restricted area, some people had left a Brazilian Flag. Given the faded colours, it must have been hanging there for years,

Also fading away, are these photographs depicting different aspects of Senna's career.

Nearby someone has left a laminated picture of Senna's grave.

All along the back of the fence posts people have writen their own messages to Senna. Goodbye Champion...

 I do wonder for how many years and decades this adoration for Senna will last... As long as he remains in living memory perhaps? If we were to visit the memorial to Jim Clark at Hockenheim would we find the same outpouring of emotion? He was the Senna of his time so I wonder if the site holds the same sense of loss.

This message was left as far back as 1995.... These little notes seem to me like a way for these race fans to process the grief they felt when the great champion passed away.

More messages from 1995...

It was a moment to pause and cast our thoughts to the memory of Senna, before picking up our camera gear to find a spot to shoot the start of the WTCC race....


                                                Source: www.speedhunters.com

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What do you think about it?

If there was one driver that should truly get credit for being the greatest in Formula 1, then let it be Senna. Why Senna? If you can just look at the some of the achievements that he accomplished; you 
will just see for yourself that Ayrton was truly the best of all. Many suggest that Schumacher was the greatest, but Senna never had the weak contenders that Schumacher compete against.

When Senna was actively racing, he has to competing against some of the greatest drivers there was. The likes of Mansell, Prost, Piquet,and Lauda. All of these drivers were World champions and to think that Senna had it easy in his F1 career was totally oblivious. It's no wonder that Senna could not win as much as he could because The competition was so intense, and very difficult that he can only 
muster 3 World Championship instead 7 that Schumacher have.

Now 3 World Championship was plenty but no where near as much as Schumacher had. But if you compare both of these great drivers base on statistic; Then you're not seeing the whole picture at all because being a great driver is not always base on statistic but as the best all round driver and Senna had just that. In racing there are a lot of factors involved: luck, the best car, no competition, and politics. If you had all of these at your disposal, then even the most average driver can be a world champion. Schumacher did have most of these factors and truly he benefited from these things that's why he was able to win 7 World Drivers Championship. I'm not suggesting that Schumacher was not a great driver, he was the best when he was racing, but only because he had the fastest car and lack of competition that he was able to get that many world championship.

Senna could have done the same if not better if he didn't have Prost. Prost was his teammate at the time he joined Mclaren, and obviously Prost was already a 2 time world champion so how does Senna measure up against this established world champion. Senna was able to beat his teammate with the same car and also the same team. Schumacher had team orders to let him by, Senna didn't have that luxury, so Senna had to proved to Mclaren team that he was the best.

Competition is needed to judge the best drivers, and not just any competition but competition against drivers that have almost if not the same skills and the same equipment. After Senna's unfortunate demise; there was no one left to stop the rampaging great that was Michael Schumacher.




                                               Source: www.ezinearticles.com