Senna rally cars reunited ahead of special Silverstone Festival showcase

• Hailing the Brazilian maestro’s ‘best day’ out in the mountains of Wales
• Ford RS Cosworth and Metro 6R4 stir up special memories 
• Biggest-ever display of cars raced and rallied by the three time World Champion
• Best priced tickets for those buying in advance   

Strange though it may seem there will be a pair of iconic rally campaigners from the 1980s lining up in the biggest collection of Ayrton Senna cars ever assembled later this month at the fast-approaching Silverstone Festival (23-25 August).

Sitting seemingly incongruously among all of the great Brazilian’s single-seater race and title winners will be a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and an MG Metro 6R4. Both hark back to an unforgettable day in 1986 when a curious Senna ventured into the wilds of mid-Wales to experience the undiluted thrills of off-road rallying.

The opportunity was conceived by the much revered automotive journalist Russell Bulgin for an inspired feature in the then top-selling Cars and Car Conversions magazine. Regrettably neither Senna nor Bulgin are still with us – Ayrton tragically lost his life 30 years ago at Imola while Russell sadly lost his battle with cancer in 2002. Two of the five cars, though, have survived and, as a curtain-raiser to their appearance in the special Senna showcase at the Festival, they were back on that bleak Welsh hillside for a special photo shoot earlier this month. 

It was the very first time the Cosworth and 6R4 had been reunited on the actual spot high up in the Cambria Mountains where they had mustered for the legendary Brazilian – looking surreal in his black and gold JPS racesuit – to drive nearly 40 years ago. Adding to the sense of occasion, both C240 HVW and C64 WDU are in their distinctive original liveries.

The Brooklyn Motorsport RS Cosworth belonged to well-known competitor Phil Collins and he remembers the occasion only too well… not least as the F1 star put his precious Ford into the surrounding scenery on the very first corner!

“I told him not to use circuit racing lines and to tuck the nose in narrow, but he went wide as if he was approaching a bend at Silverstone, got on the loose gravel and we slid off into the ditch,” recalled Collins. “He was very humble and apologetic, and the perfect pupil thereafter. In fact, from being a complete novice, it was poetry in motion within a few runs. The speed he learned was the really impressive bit – with his car control, he was a natural.” 

Collins was equally impressed with Senna’s demeanour on what was an extraordinary day. “Having worked with him I realised there was another side to the great man than the one that was often portrayed in the media. He was an absolutely lovely guy and nothing like your average superstar. On the way into the forest we got the van stuck under a low-hanging branch of a tree and, rather than leaving the mechanics to sort things out, he leapt out of the cab, grabbed a saw and jumped up onto the roof-rack. It was a trivial thing but his actions tell you so much about the man.”  

The 6R4 was reserved as a ‘media car’ by Austin Rover and accompanied to Wales by the company’s Product and Technical Press Officer Kevin Jones. Ever the enthusiast, Jones was back on top of the mountain in Wales for the recent reunion. 

“It brought back so many wonderful memories,” admitted Kevin who had been lucky enough to savour a passenger ride alongside the then Lotus 98T-Renault F1 driver. “He was like a magician, juggling the wheel with precise turning angles and minimal corrections. We were mostly sideways, even with a precipice of the hillside on one-side and an out-of-sight big drop down to the river on the other. 

“He was obviously a driving genius and it was a truly thrilling ride – I’d love to think that what he learned that day helped him in those rainy conditions at Donington Park when he drove that great opening lap on the way to one of his most memorable F1 wins.”

As for Senna, he also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to try a different discipline. At the time, he was quoted as saying: “For fun, this was probably the best day I ever had in England,” he grinned forgetting that he was, in fact, in Wales! 

“It has been much more exciting than I expected. Much more involving. I didn’t feel the time going by. It went so fast because I was finding out, and learning more and going harder and harder. Having some moments… it was very exciting. Feeling the car in the air and then bottoming. Something I have never experienced before in a road car.”

The RS Cosworth and 6R4 will be two of the more intriguing exhibits in the spectacular display of more than 25 cars paying tribute to the great Ayrton Senna at Silverstone Festival over the end-of-summer Bank Holiday weekend. It will be the most comprehensive collection of Senna cars ever assembled and a must-see attraction for all visitors to see and savour. 

The 6R4 will be in good company, too. With the MG Metro 6R4 celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, the Slowly Sideways club will be honouring the Williams Grand Prix Engineering designed and built Group B machine with special demonstrations in Shift and the Drift Zone and Iconic Auctioneers also have two 6R4s coming under the hammer in their Silverstone Festival Competition Car Sale on Friday 23 August.

A wide range of tickets – including camping and hospitality options – are available with best prices for those booking in advance. Full details of all tickets can be found here.

Footnote: Special thanks to Osian Pryce for rediscovering the Senna stage in Wales while searching for a venue for his soon to be launched Rally Coaching Business as well as the current owners of C240 HVW and C64 WDU for making the two cars available for the reunion in Wales and the special Senna Showcase at this month’s Silverstone Festival. For the record, the Vauxhall Nova Sport driver by Senna was later campaigned by Colin McRae and resides in the McRae family collection and the Volkswagen Junior Rally Team Golf GTi is thought to have perished. As has the unique home-built V8-powered 4wd Escort.