As I write this column in late April, the mass media is full of stories about Ayrton Senna. I must be the only person who saw Senna’s early races not to have grasped that I was seeing greatness in formation, but I didn’t. It’s amazing how stories get changed in retrospect.
When Ayrton Senna da Silva first arrived on the scene, I was learning my trade covering British club meetings for Autosport and Motoring News. His second race was at the Easter Monday Thruxton Meeting in a works Van Diemen FF1600 car and he won. However, it was not a surprise to see a Brazilian win in a works Van Diemen—it happened all the time.
