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Written by Jason Barlow
When he arrived in the UK in 1981, having cut his teeth karting in Italy, Senna entered all three of the separate Formula Ford championships that existed in the country back then. For a young Brazilian, not yet fluent in English and with a distaste for the climate in England, Snetterton in Norfolk was a considerable culture shock. But Senna was there to try the Van Diemen (pictured), the most competitive single-seater at the time.Snetterton manager Peter Staymer later recalled: "At the time he was another of the Van Diemen rookies. He was very young, very shy: yet another Brazilian. We were a sort of clearing house for the good, the bad and the ugly when racing drivers came to Snetterton because we ran seven days a week and, if you had a Van Diemen FF1600, this was where you started. Van Diemen was run by Ralph Firman and it became a bit of a joke with Ralph when Ayrton was running because they would ask to keep the circuit open just another lap. Just another lap! Ayrton"s got to see if this works." He would have lived in that car if he could."
Date written: 22 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 7170
When he arrived in the UK in 1981, having cut his teeth karting in Italy, Senna entered all three of the separate Formula Ford championships that existed in the country back then. For a young Brazilian, not yet fluent in English and with a distaste for the climate in England, Snetterton in Norfolk was a considerable culture shock. But Senna was there to try the Van Diemen (pictured), the most competitive single-seater at the time.Snetterton manager Peter Staymer later recalled: "At the time he was another of the Van Diemen rookies. He was very young, very shy: yet another Brazilian. We were a sort of clearing house for the good, the bad and the ugly when racing drivers came to Snetterton because we ran seven days a week and, if you had a Van Diemen FF1600, this was where you started. Van Diemen was run by Ralph Firman and it became a bit of a joke with Ralph when Ayrton was running because they would ask to keep the circuit open just another lap. Just another lap! Ayrton"s got to see if this works." He would have lived in that car if he could."
Date written: 22 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 7170
