The gymnastics medal competition takes place in the arena located in Bercy, in the French capital. The venue, famous for hosting various sports competitions, is well-known among motorsports fans due to a race held on November 18 and 19, 1993.
On this date, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were present on the grid of a charity kart race held in the arena. The race with several Formula 1 drivers was marked as the last duel between the world champions, since at the end of that year Prost would retire from the most famous competition in world motorsports.
Another interesting fact about the indoor race was Senna’s overalls. The Brazilian was leaving McLaren, the team with which he had won three championships, and as his contract ran until December 31, the driver could not use the overalls with the colors and sponsors of Williams, the team he would drive for in 1994. With this contractual issue making it difficult for the racing idol to wear the right clothes, Senna used a white overalls with only personal sponsors to drive kart number 2.
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At the event, teams were formed with a Formula 1 driver and a karting rookie. Two races were held, and the second was the one that really caught the public’s attention, since in the first race both Senna and Prost had problems with their teams’ karts.
In race 2, Andrea de Cesaris dominated much of the race, but always with Senna and Prost on his heels. In fact, the fight for second place between the former McLaren teammates was intense for much of the event – with Senna coming out ahead after some great battles.
When Ayrton was preparing to overtake De Cesaris and take the lead in the race, his kart began to suffer mechanical problems and he had to abandon the race, with less than 7 minutes left. Even so, Ayrton’s team still came in third place in the race, with Prost as the winner and De Cesaris in second.
Watch excerpts from the karting race in Bercy:
At the end of the event, Senna spoke to journalists and talked about the differences between driving a go-kart and a single-seater.
“You have to drive the go-karts sideways because they are small, the base and the tires are small, so you have to react very quickly. You are always driving sideways, because that is the only way you will be able to position yourself better to have grip on the track. This style of driving is very different from a race car,” said Senna, who added: “in a race car, if you try to lean on just one side it will slide and go off the track. In a go-kart you have to be tough and aggressive, but you also have to be precise. You use your body and, normally, the driver suffers with the seat, especially if he has not been in practice for a while.”
The person who met Senna after this race in Bercy was the star Raí, who took the same flight as the three-time champion returning to Brazil.