On September 1983, Ayrton Senna was about face off with Martin Brundle for the British F3, and TV Globo reported on the showdown by visiting the West Surrey factory – Senna’s team, whose principal was Dick Benetts.
Reginaldo Leme, the reporter, talked to Ayrton Senna about the car and about the driver’s expectations for the next-to-last race, at Silverstone. If Ayrton won, he would become champion before the end of the season, no matter what happened at Thruxton, the final race.
REGINALDO
The garage of Ayrton Senna’s team is located in Surrey, 30 km away from London. Today, on the eve of the practice sessions, Ayrton spent the day talking to Dick Benetts, the team principal. It’s a small but well put-together garage – very clean and functional. Mechanics Dave Stevens and Tony Fairband have everything on hand to assemble the car. Hanging on one of the garage’s walls, we have the laurels Ayrton won this season. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, from the year’s first nine wins – and in place of the tenth win, part of a wheel. What’s that about, Ayrton?
SENNA
That was the season’s tenth race, which coincided with the European F3 championship. I ended up suffering an accident thanks to a defective tire. It was my only accident all year.
REGINALDO
This is the car Ayrton will be taking to the track to try to win the title, which is very important for his Formula One prospects. Ayrton, here’s what we’re going to do: explain to us what an F3 car is.
SENNA
It’s a smaller car than an F1 car. Its characteristics are very similar. It’s less powerful and weighs less.
REGINALDO
What’s the HP output?
SENNA
160 HP on average.
REGINALDO
And your top speed at Silverstone, for instance?
SENNA
At Silverstone, this weekend, at the end of the straight, around 230 kmh.
REGINALDO
What about in here, in the cockpit? Are a F1 and an F3 car basically the same?
SENNA
Yes, they are very similar in terms of appearance and internal dimensions. We have just the tachometer, the water temperature, fuel pressure, oil pressure, oil temperature, the fire extinguisher – which is kept sealed almost all the time – and a few other things. Then, we have the steering wheel, which comes off. You just…
REGINALDO
Why is it like that?
SENNA
…click it in place. Because it’s very tight in here. You have to remove the steering so the driver can get in and out.
REGINALDO
The car is almost ready, and it will soon be shipped to Silverstone. Time trials take place tomorrow. And on Sunday, starting at 10:15 AM, TV Globo will be talking about F3.
The race at Silverstone was the first F3 race ever broadcast live on Brazilian TV. Martin Brundle was the winner, and Senna ended up in second place. The title was going to be decided at the last race, in which the Brazilian driver gave no chance to his rival and secured the title after winning 12 out of 20 races in the season.