Magic Senna, 1983

LAT Archives  

30 copies in all formats combined, including 3 of this one.
Don't be fooled by this photo. It's misleading in more ways than one! The weather is fine and dry, we're in Estoril, Portugal, and Ayrton Senna appears to be posing for an advertising photo. His new Lotus Renault, adorned in the legendary black and gold colors of his sponsor John Player Special, is stopped on the track in a three-quarter rear view, the driver's helmet resting neatly on his right side... In fact, Senna has just suffered a turbo failure, as was still common at the time, and is patiently waiting to be picked up. The real deception is yet to come, because the Portuguese Grand Prix will be disrupted by rain from Friday's practice sessions onward, and the race will take place in torrential downpours, making it not only complicated but potentially dangerous. The Brazilian driver will win his first victory in this race in style, earning himself the nickname "Magic Senna," the king of the rain. Lotus's first victory since Colin Chapman's death, Renault's first since the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix, a full minute ahead (!!) of second-place finisher Michele Alboreto in his Ferrari, the only driver not to have been lapped by the prodigious talent behind the wheel. Patrick Tambay completed the podium in his Renault.