The Last 96 Hours of Ayrton Senna

[Ferrari333SP]

I assumed this article has been discussed on this forum already, but I did a search with a few keywords and nothing on it came up, so here it is. If it has been discussed, please let me know!

I was reading on Jalopnik.com about a new video from the Imola F1 race in 1994 that's surfaced, and they gave a link to this article, which basically chronicles the last 96 hours of Ayrton Senna's life, with info on where he was living in Portugal at the start of the 1994 season, to his girlfriend Adrianne, his family members, fellow race drivers and personnel, and all the other events leading up to his fateful crash, and what transpired immediately after the crash. It's a long read, but an incredibly fascinating, insightful, yet foreboding one. I'm not sure how the author managed to get all those minute details to what went on and what was said, but nonetheless, it's amazing to go along with the author and try to visualize everything that happened. Some great pics to go along with it too are included.

The Last 96 Hours of Aryton Senna:

http://www.forix.com/8w/senna1994.html

[djinvicta]

I was going to say I "enjoyed" reading that, but its the wrong word. Very moving, very sad, very chilling, but compelling read to the last word.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Good lord, that was emotionally exhausting just reading that. It really gave you a small insight as to just how traumatic that weekend must have been.

Thanks for posting that. I just nearly broke down at my work place..

Selby

[Hamness]

As I finished that article , many thanks for posting it, my daughter walked past and asked me what was wrong. I had been so engrossed that I had not realised that tears were forming.

Saw him race many times , in the junior formulas, that tumultuous year in F3 with Brundle, the unbelievable wet weather display at Donington, but I was never a Senna fan as such. Having said that I could never fail to "secretly" admire his performances.

That day at Imola, I felt exactly the same sense of despondency when, as a teenager, my mate phoned me to ask if I had heard the news from Hockenheim about Jim Clark. More tears...........

[Ferrari333SP]

When it got to the part where Sid Watkins arrived on the scene to analyze Senna immediately after the crash, I had to pause reading a few times; so chilling to read how it went down.

[darcia2]

IHave just read this i have tears in my eyes as i recall the tragic events of that fateful event... A truly emotional document..... Now friday evening we are going to the Senna film as part of the Melb Film Festival...... more emotions

[GolddustMini]

an interesting read the only bit i didnt think was written in a particularly sensitive way this part of the first paragraph..

Twelve years after the last fatality in Formula One, the sport lost its most talented and least talented drivers in the same weekend.

i thought the suggestion that Roland Ratzenberger was the least talented driver to be particularly disrespectful

[Ferrari333SP]

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

an interesting read the only bit i didnt think was written in a particularly sensitive way this part of the first paragraph..



i thought the suggestion that Roland Ratzenberger was the least talented driver to be particularly disrespectful

Yeah I was particularly confused about that sentence as well; I don't think Roland was the least talented driver out there by any means.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

i thought the suggestion that Roland Ratzenberger was the least talented driver to be particularly disrespectful

Now that's just silly and thoroughly disrespectful.

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Now that's just silly and thoroughly disrespectful.

I think the writer meant people from the back and the front of the grid which is fair enough, but I agree what he actually wrote was out of order. The piece as a whole is well written and a moving and saddening read though.

Is it really true that Ayrton had an Austrian flag to fly after the race, I've not heard that anywhere else.

[Born Racer]

I'd heard that before about the flag, but I'd never seen it confirmed.

[GolddustMini]

Originally Posted by fourWheelDrift

I think the writer meant people from the back and the front of the grid which is fair enough, but I agree what he actually wrote was out of order. The piece as a whole is well written and a moving and saddening read though.

Is it really true that Ayrton had an Austrian flag to fly after the race, I've not heard that anywhere else.

i think its in the aryton senna biography as well so im guessing it is true

[strider]

It's definitely true. I think it may even have been in the film, but there was so much to take in that I can't be sure it was.

Apart from the one glaring error that has already been mentioned, that is an exceptionally good and and moving article. I read it hours ago, but have only just felt able to write about it. I remember that moment when Senna's head moved in the cockpit after the crash and, like others, I briefly saw it as a sign that he might be alright. The camera were not showing the side on which he had been injured, but when they moved him and the blood became apparent my hopes were dashed.

I'm glad that due mention was made of Adriane Galisteu. I always felt she had a very raw deal from the family in the immediate aftermath.

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by Ferrari333SP

It's a long read, but an incredibly fascinating, insightful, yet foreboding one. I'm not sure how the author managed to get all those minute details to what went on and what was said, but nonetheless, it's amazing to go along with the author and try to visualize everything that happened.


http://www.forix.com/8w/senna1994.html

Firstly, I'd like to say thankyou.

I've never read this article and found it fascinating. A lot of it's contents I've read about in the Tom Rubython book published 10 years after his death, the contracts he was signing, his emotions over the course of the weekend and Professor Watkins and the medical teams actions at the scene.
In Rubythons book, he spoke of Fangio switching the TV off. Fangio was Senna's hero and they had great respect for each other. I remember seeing the accident and I knew it was fatal before the car had come to a stop, sixth sense, who knows, but I cried my eyes out that day.

Originally Posted by strider

I remember that moment when Senna's head moved in the cockpit after the crash and, like others, I briefly saw it as a sign that he might be alright.

I remember that too, and hearing Murray Walker mention it. I know he was doing his job, but for a few minutes he made me believe a miracle may happen. I prayed that I was wrong, and to be completely honest, since that day, unfairly maybe, I haven't been able to stand Walker.

Also the photographer who took photos at the scene and honourably has refused to sell them on, and most of the writing about Adrienne Gallisteu is from her own book about Senna.

The Brazilian information ie the TV commentators and reporters is actually new, I have to assume this is from a Brazilian publication

But once again, thanks.

Senna's tragedy is a purely personal thing, everyone is affected differently, the film left me cold, to be honest, some great unseen footage but nothing I hadn't read about in books previously or in interviews. Balestre, after all, pressured Senna over his Superlicence during the winter of 1990 to the point that Senna nearly left the sport.

At the end was a quote from his sister, saying that Senna had consulted the bible on Saturday evening and whichever page he looked at said he was about to be given the "greatest possible gift". To a Christian, that means only one thing, God.
Nowhere have I read that he spoke to his family during the Imola weekend, so I have questioned the reasoning for this belief and inclusion in the film. Was it their way of dealing with the grief. I don't know.

I've had a few opportunites to visit Imola over the years due to family living out there, but I don't want to see the circuit, I want to see Estoril, Monaco, Donington, Silverstone, any places that he won
Watching him at Brands in the Toleman and Lotus, then Silverstone in 1988 when he won brilliantly in the wet. Subsequent years around there and even meeting him briefly in the Silverstone paddock. Places where he was joyful.

Apologies for prattling on, just nice to get my feelings out occasionally.

Thanks

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by strider

I'm glad that due mention was made of Adriane Galisteu. I always felt she had a very raw deal from the family in the immediate aftermath.

Never really got that either. She was just a 21 year old model, probably fairly naive and was living the life when her world famous boyfriend perished in a racing accident. That's a lot to put on someone, especially with the family not being so kind.

I believe there were other issues involved(money), which it would not have mattered who Ayrton hooked up with, the family would not have been happy. Once you marry someone and have kids, your relationship with your family changes as you have your own family now and the responsibilities that go with it. Essentially the focus of the gravy train would have shifted. I'm not accusing the family of any impropriety, but they definitely personally benefited from his business endeavors and subsequently his estate. It's only natural to defend your quarter.

For me I had driven a race car for the first time a week before he passed. In retrospect, I find that his accident was kind of the day the music died for me. I never really viewed the world the same again, everything seemed so innocent and easy before that, but I realized that no matter how good you were, circumstances either of your own choosing or not at all, the world could jump up and bite you.

To paraphrase the Damon Hill quote used in the article, you have to enjoy every second and enjoy life as it is.

[Rikki Cann]

Thanks for posting this, it has left me with tears in my eyes, I remember it like it was yesterday and never had a clue what was going on behind the scenes whilst watching it all unfold with Murray Walker commentating.

What a horrible day that was.

RIP all who died that day.

[Bononi]

Sad.

[benny84]

Just went well over my hour lunch break because it was so compelling! I was 9 and I remember my Dad telling me the red substance was some kind of fluid from the car - I didn't dare not believe him. Ayrton was one of a kind

[ECW Dan Selby]

Yeh the bit about the blood/extinguisher was really upsetting... You can just imagine the distress and panic going on in the household at the time. It painted such a vivid but awful picture.

But yeh, that bit about Ratzenberger at the start almost seemed like an error. It doesn't fit in with any of the article, which is tasteful and respectful. Confusing indeed.

Selby

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Bononi

Sad.

It certainly was and still is.

[Aysedasi]

A very, very sad but hugely engrossing read.

It's funny, I felt exactly the same after reading it as I felt when Senna died. Totally numb. I shed no tears then or now. Strange really, as the man was my sporting hero. For me, the best - a racer, who had to be the fastest on every race and practice lap. Strange again as many here know the derivation of my forum name. No, my emotion comes when I see footage of the man as he was alive, and particularly in a race car - a banzai lap at Monaco or Suzuka perhaps, then I unashamedly miss him. For me, my one-time passion for F1 died with Senna - it wasn't the same afterwards and has never been the same since.

Thanks to Ferrari333SP for the link.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Other than that one line which has already been commented on.

The description of the entire scene across Europe, from Portugal to Italy and back in his homeland in Brazil, is so sadly vivid.

I'm not a reader of biographies, so much of what was happening in the background described is new to me.

It's just so incredibly sad, even reading about it all these years later.

[GTRMagic]

I just finished reading the article, in the background was the local OneHD teev coverage of the F1 from the Nurburgring.

And my god didnt that smash home the words in the article. Its odd to be emotional about someone you didnt personally know, but with everything I have watched, read, devoured about the great Ayrton Senna da Silva over the years before May 1, 1994, he was unashamedly a hero of mine, able to do things with mechanical equipment that most others could not.

The bloke in the yellow helmet who was unburstable.

Except that dreadful day in May we saw mortality at perhaps its worst.

The words in the article are overpowering. The family issues, the supporters, the apologists, the wiser heads, the interferers... arguably just like any other family.

I have been at 3 motor racing events here where a driver has crashed, that ultimately extinguished the lives of fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles.. but you dont really get the rationality of the 'show must go on' until it is brought to you so vividly, as in this dialog about a very similar occassion.

Very very sad. About Ayrton. About Roland. About Elio. About Michele. About Denny Hulme, About Don Watson, About Mark Porter. And all of the others who have lost their lives at the wheel of the fast machines that keep us so fascinated at their skill and risk

Thank you for sharing.

[strider]

Originally Posted by herowassenna

I remember that too, and hearing Murray Walker mention it. I know he was doing his job, but for a few minutes he made me believe a miracle may happen. I prayed that I was wrong, and to be completely honest, since that day, unfairly maybe, I haven't been able to stand Walker.

I was watching it on Eurosport with Ben Edwards and John Watson. I remember being impressed by how quickly Watson picked up on Ayrton being off line. Eurosport did continue to show the live footage for too long for my taste, so I switched over to the BBC then. You are being unfair on Walker, even though I don't think he is the legend everyone thinks he is.

Originally Posted by herowassenna

At the end was a quote from his sister, saying that Senna had consulted the bible on Saturday evening and whichever page he looked at said he was about to be given the "greatest possible gift". To a Christian, that means only one thing, God.

Nowhere have I read that he spoke to his family during the Imola weekend, so I have questioned the reasoning for this belief and inclusion in the film. Was it their way of dealing with the grief. I don't know.

The film was made very much in consultation with the family and I think it portrayed events from their point of view. The length of the film was another consideration, as was the need to make it commercially viable.

I've spoken to a few people who didn't know much about Senna and they all said that they thought it was a good film and that they had enjoyed it, so the formula must have worked overall. I've seen it twice now and, on reflection, feel that it left out too much. This may be put right on the DVD. I've heard there is a 4-hour version in existence.

[Bononi]

And strangely as it may be, he wouldn't want it any other way. To die racing, the thing he loved most.