Watch and listen to this moving video produced by Honda in honor of friend and teammate Ayrton Senna.
In 1989, F1 star Ayrton Senna shattered the lap record at Suzuka driving a McLaren-Honda, when the science of onboard racecar telemetry was still fairly new. In this new film short, Honda technicians took the original data files and, using only sound and light to indicate Senna’s position, reconstructed his flying lap around the historic Suzuka track.
The moment that Senna and Honda joined forces, first at Lotus and then at Team McLaren in 1988, Honda engineers immediately bonded with the driver who would become three-time champion, identifying with his passion and focus. In May of this year. Honda announced that it will rejoin with McLaren and return to Formula 1 in 2015.
In the video, you can catch a few glimpses of the light and speaker equipment set up around the course to create the tribute lap. Be sure to select closed captioning (CC on the lower toolbar) so you can follow along with the on-screen narration in English.
Wow. It choked me up a little. Okay, a lot.
He was the most mystical, mysterious driver in the history of Formula 1, a great talent whose burning desire was quenched far too early. Great job, Honda. Every fan should watch this.
Senna was F1’s Earnhardt, He put winning above points, even their own well being. Some drivers see the vehicle as they see the other drivers, Something that will be mastered and controlled to achieve their goal. Jeff Gordon said he saw drivers wreck themselves or mess up their line because Dale was behind them. Not so much that he might run into them(he did that too) but he could get so close to another car and be comfortable doing it the other guy would screw up. Senna was a master of control.