Ayrton Senna’s first win was a borderline cinematic effort on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, he was driving the Lotus 97T and the win would be Lotus’s first since the untimely death of Colin Chapman in 1982.
Senna’s long list of wins began with the car you see pictured here, this is chassis #2 and it’s owned by Classic Team Lotus – a company run by Colin Chapman’s son Clive. The car now makes regular appearances at motorsport events around Britain and was recently displayed at The Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Renault World Series, driven by Martin Donnelly.
I’ve added the start of the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix below for those who haven’t seen it (or those who’d like to see it again). If you click through to YouTube you can actually watch the entire race – it’s divided into 13 parts.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
A Flat 6 Love Affair was written by regular Silodrome contributing writer Marc Goldbaum. When it comes to Porsche there are more than a few enthusiasts. Bart Kuykens, however, happens to be one in the sea of Porschephiles who brazenly stands among the greats. Bart, in his actions, takes the obsession and passion to another…
This new series of t-shirts from the team at Auto Design Prints were designed to celebrate three of the most important cars of the ’80s – the Porsche 911, the Lamborghini Countach, and the Ferrari F40. Each t-shirt is made from premium, ethically sourced, 100% organic cotton with a screen-printed design on the upper left…
This is an original Rickman Metisse-Suzuki 500 Titan, one of the earlier Japanese-engined road racing Rickmans. The combination of reliable, high-output Japanese motorcycle engines with beautifully engineered British frames and suspension led to some of the best handling bikes of the era. The Rickman Brothers Derek and Don Rickman were already world class motocross racers…
There can be little doubt that the Low Drag Jaguar E-Type is one of the most beautiful cars ever made, if not the most beautiful outright. Enzo Ferrari was once quoted as saying that the E-Type was the most beautiful car in the world, and every sensible list of the best cars of the 20th…
The AJS V4 was an advanced engineering effort undertaken by the British motorcycle company in the mid-1930s, the first prototype was intended as a road-going motorcycle and it was shown at the Olympia Show in 1935. Building The AJS V4 Racer The road-going version of the V4 didn’t get a green light for production, it’s…
This 1967 Shelby GT500 Super Snake was a one-off build with a 600+ hp Ford GT40 Mk II 427 V8 – the same engine that had won against the best in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the year before. Goodyear Thunderbolt The car was built as part of a Goodyear marketing stunt for…
