gahjeen
04-24-2006, 10:15 AM
The Reincarnation of Senna
Written by: Cassio Cortes (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/425/) London, UK – 4/20/2006 http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102429_bse6.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102429_bse6.jpg) It was an emotional day at Oulton Park as Bruno Senna conquered the first victories of his British F3 career. (LAT Photo)
Racing royalty seems everywhere these days, making the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic as famous last names returned to top-level racing in the 2006 season, rekindling sweet memories on many nostalgic minds. Notably, Marco Andretti's solid IndyCar Series debut with Andretti Green Racing and Nico Rosberg's sensational break into the Formula 1 scene with Williams have generated great media and fan interest during the opening races of the '06 campaign.
Yet a true assessment of the natural talent of drivers like Andretti and Rosberg, or Graham Rahal and Nelson Piquet Jr., is hard to come by until they reach the highest echelons of the racing ladder. One can't really argue with the "unbridled-support" rationale chosen by fathers Michael, Keke, Bobby and Nelson Sr. when guiding their son's careers, but the fact remains that those youngsters with illustrious names - all very successful in a variety of junior formulae - never drove anything but the finest equipment year after year as they developed into world-class drivers.
The story of 22-year old Bruno Senna, nephew of the late, three-time Formula 1 champion Ayrton, is rather different: for almost a decade, a family traumatized by Ayrton's fatal accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix precluded Bruno from driving any race cars whatsoever, fine or not.
A long, winding and sometimes painful - in 1996, his father perished when the Ducati motorcycle he was riding was hit by a truck in Sao Paulo - road followed until an emotional Sunday at the Oulton Park circuit last weekend, when Bruno stunningly dominated the opening two rounds of the 2006 British Formula 3 season (click here for story) (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/more/23073/), less than a year and a half after contesting the first car race of his career - and just two weeks following his maiden win in any series, in the F3 support race at the Australian GP.
"In all, I was stopped for nine years," the Brazilian confirms from his London home. "Nine years not getting into any race car of any kind; I'd say I maybe fooled around in go-karts some five times during that time."
Like his legendary uncle, Bruno rebuts questions in straight, no-bull answers. If he carries any resentment from the family-imposed restrictions - which have delayed his career significantly, as most drivers are actually reaching F1 at ages 22 and younger nowadays - it never transpires.
"I never stopped loving racing, I always followed F1 and such," he reveals. "I was about halfway through college, majoring in Business, when my mother [Viviane, Ayrton's sister] asked me what did I want to do with my life. I said 'go racing'; it was what I had always wanted to do. So, when it finally became my option to have, I took it."
Aged 19, Senna began his return in go-karts, but a crash and five fractured ribs sidelined him yet again. When the time for his second return came, Bruno followed the advice from one of Ayrton's best friends, former F1 driver and current Scuderia Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger, and went straight into car racing, contesting a couple of F-BMW UK rounds late in 2004.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102439_bse2.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102439_bse2.jpg) Bruno's helmet design appears as similar to his uncle's as both men's personalities... (LAT Photo)
He didn't embarrass himself, but nor did he do spectacularly. Thus, his decision to move into British F3 last year - with a grand total of five car races under his belt - seemed like a dive into the deep end, at best. Historically one of the most competitive junior series in the world, Brit F3 was the honing ground of illustrious compatriots Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello and Ayrton himself, whom all conquered that title on their roads to F1.
Senna's rookie year with Double R Racing, co-owned by McLaren F1 star Kimi Raikkonen, produced one pole and three podium finishes. Some talent, at least, seemed to be there - but how much of it was being offset by his monstrous lack of experience in comparison to most drivers?
Considering last weekend's showing at Oulton Park, a truckload: "To be honest, I had never raced at Oulton Park - British F3 didn't go there last year. But it's a track that's very beneficial to my driving style."
And what would that be? Vintage Senna, it seems: "It's a circuit that demands a lot of commitment; the driver really needs to be on attack mode all the time, as it has very fast corners that must be taken very aggressively, at the extreme limit of adhesion. I really appreciate that kind of track - I feel more comfortable on high-speed corners than I do on slow ones."
Bruno wasn't even 10 when his uncle passed, but he does have vivid memories of racing go-karts with Ayrton at the family's private track: "I weighed less than 100 pounds back then, so he had a real hard time keeping up with me on the straights..."
Any further comparisons are dismissed, however. Like his uncle, Bruno comes across as a uniquely complex personality, one that blends an inner, unmistakable belief in his own talent while also providing displays of genuine humility.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102444_bse3.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102444_bse3.jpg) The 22-year old Brazilian has been racing cars for less than a year and a half now. (LAT Photo)
"Am I in any way like him? Maybe; it's funny because people say everybody in our family is very similar in the way we think and act," he admits. "But as far as driving style goes, I think every driver has his own unique style. Perhaps Ayrton was more aggressive than me, but I think that's very subjective: I mean, a driver's own style might change from track to track, for instance."
I leave the juiciest question for the end: back in the 1980s, the Senna vs. Piquet rivalry reached such heights in Brazil that being a Senna-lover automatically meant becoming a Piquet-hater, and vice-versa. Seldom have two more distinct personalities gone head-to-head in any sport - Piquet, the ultimate bon vivant, politically incorrect in extremis, versus the obsessively-professional Ayrton, who strived to be a role model off the track as much as he desired to bury the opposition on it. A race fan's own philosophical approach to life was at the line when being questioned whom he or she favored.
So, on what grounds is Bruno's relationship with Nelson Piquet Jr., who, like him, got off to a winning start in his '06 campaign in the GP2 Series?
"I can't exactly say we're buddies because we've seen each other very few times," Senna offers. "But we get along well; he's a nice person. Certainly we don't have anything resembling the rivalry Nelson [Sr.] and Ayrton had back in the day."
But intentionally or not, Bruno does allude to the inevitable comparison between Brazil's two most famous racing names: "Yes, I think 'Nelsinho' has done a great job so far - you know, he's really young and has had a lot of great opportunities throughout his career..."
Vintage Senna.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/101717_cc.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/101717_cc.jpg)
Written by: Cassio Cortes (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/425/) London, UK – 4/20/2006 http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102429_bse6.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102429_bse6.jpg) It was an emotional day at Oulton Park as Bruno Senna conquered the first victories of his British F3 career. (LAT Photo)
Racing royalty seems everywhere these days, making the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic as famous last names returned to top-level racing in the 2006 season, rekindling sweet memories on many nostalgic minds. Notably, Marco Andretti's solid IndyCar Series debut with Andretti Green Racing and Nico Rosberg's sensational break into the Formula 1 scene with Williams have generated great media and fan interest during the opening races of the '06 campaign.
Yet a true assessment of the natural talent of drivers like Andretti and Rosberg, or Graham Rahal and Nelson Piquet Jr., is hard to come by until they reach the highest echelons of the racing ladder. One can't really argue with the "unbridled-support" rationale chosen by fathers Michael, Keke, Bobby and Nelson Sr. when guiding their son's careers, but the fact remains that those youngsters with illustrious names - all very successful in a variety of junior formulae - never drove anything but the finest equipment year after year as they developed into world-class drivers.
The story of 22-year old Bruno Senna, nephew of the late, three-time Formula 1 champion Ayrton, is rather different: for almost a decade, a family traumatized by Ayrton's fatal accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix precluded Bruno from driving any race cars whatsoever, fine or not.
A long, winding and sometimes painful - in 1996, his father perished when the Ducati motorcycle he was riding was hit by a truck in Sao Paulo - road followed until an emotional Sunday at the Oulton Park circuit last weekend, when Bruno stunningly dominated the opening two rounds of the 2006 British Formula 3 season (click here for story) (http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/more/23073/), less than a year and a half after contesting the first car race of his career - and just two weeks following his maiden win in any series, in the F3 support race at the Australian GP.
"In all, I was stopped for nine years," the Brazilian confirms from his London home. "Nine years not getting into any race car of any kind; I'd say I maybe fooled around in go-karts some five times during that time."
Like his legendary uncle, Bruno rebuts questions in straight, no-bull answers. If he carries any resentment from the family-imposed restrictions - which have delayed his career significantly, as most drivers are actually reaching F1 at ages 22 and younger nowadays - it never transpires.
"I never stopped loving racing, I always followed F1 and such," he reveals. "I was about halfway through college, majoring in Business, when my mother [Viviane, Ayrton's sister] asked me what did I want to do with my life. I said 'go racing'; it was what I had always wanted to do. So, when it finally became my option to have, I took it."
Aged 19, Senna began his return in go-karts, but a crash and five fractured ribs sidelined him yet again. When the time for his second return came, Bruno followed the advice from one of Ayrton's best friends, former F1 driver and current Scuderia Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger, and went straight into car racing, contesting a couple of F-BMW UK rounds late in 2004.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102439_bse2.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102439_bse2.jpg) Bruno's helmet design appears as similar to his uncle's as both men's personalities... (LAT Photo)
He didn't embarrass himself, but nor did he do spectacularly. Thus, his decision to move into British F3 last year - with a grand total of five car races under his belt - seemed like a dive into the deep end, at best. Historically one of the most competitive junior series in the world, Brit F3 was the honing ground of illustrious compatriots Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello and Ayrton himself, whom all conquered that title on their roads to F1.
Senna's rookie year with Double R Racing, co-owned by McLaren F1 star Kimi Raikkonen, produced one pole and three podium finishes. Some talent, at least, seemed to be there - but how much of it was being offset by his monstrous lack of experience in comparison to most drivers?
Considering last weekend's showing at Oulton Park, a truckload: "To be honest, I had never raced at Oulton Park - British F3 didn't go there last year. But it's a track that's very beneficial to my driving style."
And what would that be? Vintage Senna, it seems: "It's a circuit that demands a lot of commitment; the driver really needs to be on attack mode all the time, as it has very fast corners that must be taken very aggressively, at the extreme limit of adhesion. I really appreciate that kind of track - I feel more comfortable on high-speed corners than I do on slow ones."
Bruno wasn't even 10 when his uncle passed, but he does have vivid memories of racing go-karts with Ayrton at the family's private track: "I weighed less than 100 pounds back then, so he had a real hard time keeping up with me on the straights..."
Any further comparisons are dismissed, however. Like his uncle, Bruno comes across as a uniquely complex personality, one that blends an inner, unmistakable belief in his own talent while also providing displays of genuine humility.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/102444_bse3.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/102444_bse3.jpg) The 22-year old Brazilian has been racing cars for less than a year and a half now. (LAT Photo)
"Am I in any way like him? Maybe; it's funny because people say everybody in our family is very similar in the way we think and act," he admits. "But as far as driving style goes, I think every driver has his own unique style. Perhaps Ayrton was more aggressive than me, but I think that's very subjective: I mean, a driver's own style might change from track to track, for instance."
I leave the juiciest question for the end: back in the 1980s, the Senna vs. Piquet rivalry reached such heights in Brazil that being a Senna-lover automatically meant becoming a Piquet-hater, and vice-versa. Seldom have two more distinct personalities gone head-to-head in any sport - Piquet, the ultimate bon vivant, politically incorrect in extremis, versus the obsessively-professional Ayrton, who strived to be a role model off the track as much as he desired to bury the opposition on it. A race fan's own philosophical approach to life was at the line when being questioned whom he or she favored.
So, on what grounds is Bruno's relationship with Nelson Piquet Jr., who, like him, got off to a winning start in his '06 campaign in the GP2 Series?
"I can't exactly say we're buddies because we've seen each other very few times," Senna offers. "But we get along well; he's a nice person. Certainly we don't have anything resembling the rivalry Nelson [Sr.] and Ayrton had back in the day."
But intentionally or not, Bruno does allude to the inevitable comparison between Brazil's two most famous racing names: "Yes, I think 'Nelsinho' has done a great job so far - you know, he's really young and has had a lot of great opportunities throughout his career..."
Vintage Senna.
http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/medium/101717_cc.jpg (http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/101717_cc.jpg)