The unmissable Senna cars at Silverstone Festival

Silverstone Festival is here, and among the loudest, most spectacular cars in action will be some of those driven by the late, great Ayrton Senna.

Some of the charismatic three-time World Champion’s race-winning machines throughout his career, from his early days in karting up to and including in Formula 1 will take to Silverstone, harking back to an era which many hold dear.

This display will be the centrepiece of a wider Senna celebration, organised with the full support of the Senna family and Senna Brands. Ayrton’s nephew Bruno, a Silverstone winner in sportscars and GP2, will be driving one of his uncle’s F1 machines during one of the two on-track demonstrations (16:40 on Saturday) as well as meeting fans in the International Paddock.

There is also some rarely seen memorabilia at Silverstone Museum this weekend, with admission to the museum included in the event admission. And adding to the colour and atmosphere, Senna’s niece Lalalli is exhibiting spectacular sculptured art from her “Our Senna Collection”, while a collection of Senna-inspired art will be on display at the Escapade Silverstone clubhouse.

Some of the more obscure cars from Senna’s career will also be featured: a Honda NSX, which Senna aided in the development of, as well as a Metro 6R4 and a Ford Sierra Cosworth – rally cars Senna tested for a magazine feature.

Ahead of this weekend, we’ve picked out five standout cars from the great Brazilian’s racing legacy which are simply must-see. All of the cars, more than 20 in fact, will be on display in the International Paddock throughout the weekend, so if you miss them on-track, be sure to catch them there!

1983 Ralt RT3 Toyota

The Ralt RT3 was the car which put Senna on the global motorsport map. Formula Three cars looked very different to how they do now and produced a mere fraction of the downforce and power of the considerably larger F1 cars in 1983, when Senna raced in the British F3 championship. He steamrolled to nine straight victories with this car, including in the British Grand Prix support race, on his way to the title, and took the inaugural F3 World Cup in Macau (the winning trophy will be featured at the Silverstone Museum). Be sure to catch the F3 Classic Interseries races (Saturday 11:30 and Sunday 09:40) to experience the thrill of this era of single-seater racing.

1985 Lotus 97T Renault

The evocative black and gold colours of this era of Lotus, paired with Senna’s striking yellow helmet, makes this a particularly iconic sight from the mid-1980s. The turbocharged V6 Renault engine produced huge amounts of horsepower, leading to the scenes of Senna ‘dancing’ with the car when behind the wheel. One of Senna’s finest victories came behind the wheel of a 97T, where he stormed to victory in torrential conditions in Portugal with this car for his maiden victory.

1991 McLaren MP4/6 Honda

It’s one of the most iconic combinations in all of F1 history. A red and white McLaren with Senna’s helmet is at the centre of some of the most famous memories in motorsport. A V12 Honda-powered MP4/6 was the machine with which Senna took his third, and arguably most impressive title victory. Senna won seven times in 1991, including a record-equalling third victory in a row at Monaco, and McLaren-Honda went on to take a fourth successive World Constructors’ Championship win. There will be several McLarens on display, but it’s with this one, donned with the number one, which perhaps is the most memorable of the bunch.

1984 Toleman TG183B Hart

It was with this car that Senna’s Grand Prix story began, racing in this particular chassis in his very first F1 race – at home in Brazil. He picked up his first point next time out at Kyalami in South Africa, setting the tone for what became a mightily impressive debut season with the minnows Toleman. He would come close to victory in torrential rain in Monaco and take further podiums at the British and Portuguese Grands Prix, in what was a very impressive debut campaign at motorsport’s highest level before switching to Lotus for 1985.

1981 Van Diemen RF81 Formula Ford 1600

Before the era of Formula 4 and GB4, it was in the likes of Formula Ford where young drivers including Senna would make the step up from karting into single-seater competition. No wings, along with narrow, grooved tyres and 1600cc engines is a formula which has stuck with this discipline of racing right from its inception through to today, where there is still a dedicated community for the fantastic racing FF1600 produces. In 1981, Senna moved from Brazil to the United Kingdom and took both the RAC and Townsend Thoresen titles at the first attempt, experiencing his first taste of Silverstone in the process.

READ MORE: BIGGEST EVER DISPLAY OF AYRTON SENNA CARS AT SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL 

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