Top Gear & Senna

[DSG4ME]

I just watched TG, tonight they did an Ayrton Senna tribute to mark his 50th birthday.

Now me personally got into F1 in 1975, I had the Scalextric set, the Wolf's and BRM's that were the cars of the day, I also had a Mexico and a 240Z for those normal car days, hated the Mini's cos they'd roll off too much.

Anyway, back to it, on the show they showed footage of Ayrton racing, as he died in 1994 the cars were very different to the automatic arrows of today, as I watched the racing it took me back to why I loved the sport, and why I never watch it now, something has been lost along the way, in the same way football is also ruined now.

The raw edge and the talent is muted now, the machine or the equipment makes most of the effort these days, back then it was who could shift the stick fastest and bestest, much in the same way if you compare say Ronalso with Best, Best was and always will be the best, because he summond things from the ball that had never been seen before, much the same way a Hendrix played guitar, today you have Ronaldo who is a good footballer without a doubt, but how good would he be if he had to dribble and hoof a 1970 ball, it's the same with F1 now, half the grid is there because of how much money they brought to the team, not because they are good drivers, infact today's F1 driver could not drive a 1982 F1 car competitively, maybe with a lot of practice, but the art of one on the wheel and one on the stick flatout guessing where the car is going to point out of a corner has been lost, for anyone needing proof, get some F1 action from 1967-1999 and compare the sheer amount of time you will be glued to the screen as opposed to todays racing, where you can nip away for 20 mins and everything is still going round in the same order.

I take my hat off to TG for showing this, and for two reasons, one being the reminder of when the sport was unmissable, and two for remembering a great man and driver

[SammoVWT]

Agree with this, the shimmying to get grip was most impressive, he had a good feel for his car as you can see. Unbelieveably aggressive but great driver.

Dont forget though, theres a lot of safety resitrictions now, so if there is a driver currently as good as senna (which i doubt) we will never see them at their full potential. Plus crashing a car is more costly now which is a shame.

[DSG4ME]

Agree with this, the shimmying to get grip was most impressive, he had a good feel for his car as you can see. Unbelieveably aggressive but great driver.

Dont forget though, theres a lot of safety resitrictions now, so if there is a driver currently as good as senna (which i doubt) we will never see them at their full potential. Plus crashing a car is more costly now which is a shame.

Yeah too true I'm afraid, Ronnie Peterson used to float the car through corners as well.

A funny one with Mansell, the year he won the championship, he was told pre season he's have to shed some weight to be competitive, which he duly did and the rest is history.

Of today's driver's I think Webber,Shumy,Hamilton and maybe a couple of other's could adapt to it properly, but a lot of the others would be still engaging 2nd gear as the best lapped them.

I think the car could be brought back with the modern safety, keep the neck support and the general shape of the cars, ditch the autobox and other driver assist's.

BTCC is where it's at now for racing.

[DropKickMurphy]

having just got back from the Silverstone Classic festival where i spent the weekend as a track marshal, i'd strongly suggest you go along and see what clubs like the HSCC and HGPCA organise throughtout the year. if you are interested in these cars you can get some unrivalled access to see the machines up close and talk to the drivers who still race these machines today.

the race for historic GP cars from 1966 - 1985 was very closely contested with a good grid of cars considering how many actually survive in a state fit to race, and are driven by real enthusiasts to the limit (and sometimes beyond!) of the cars potential.

i agree that modern F1 is a tad on the dull side but if you know where to look there is still plenty of club level racing out there for spectators and drivers alike.

its not as though the events are expensive, most are under £15 for the day and 90% of the events allow under 13s in free with paying adults to try and ensure that younger generations can appreciate how things used to be in the older days of motor sport - its certainly a far cry from going to the F1!

DKM

[seanj0hn]

Totally agree, great sport... ruined!

I don't watch F1 routinely. It was only by chance I watched it yesterday in which Ferrari made a joke of the sport, in my opinion. But watching the Senna footage was inspiring. Best TG I've seen in a long time.

[Ben]

As a whole, this was the best episode of top gear that i had seen in a long time.

[JSH]

Just watched it on Iplayer, Best article TG has done in a long time.

Got me thinking about all the rumpus recently when drivers were taking their hand off the steering wheel to operate the F, duct,
Its not that long ago Senna & co were driving around Monaco with a H pattern gearbox!