Ayrton Senna and the 1984 season – Part two

The second place achieved in Monaco under incessant rain had brought Ayrton into the limelight and now the possibilities of finding a more competitive team had increased considerably. In any case, 10 Grands Prix were completed before the end of the championship and the Brazilian had no choice but to continue giving his best to hope for a rosy future.

Report of the second part of the season:

Seventh race: Canadian GP. With a Toleman that seems to have revitalized Senna sets the ninth time on the grid with a time of 1'27''448, two seconds behind poleman Nelson Piquet (Brabham – BMW), while on the fourth row with him is Andrea de Cesaris on Ligier – Peugeot and a little further on none other than Niki Lauda on McLaren. The race starts under a splendid sun and after 68 laps Piquet triumphs ahead of the two McLarens of Prost and Lauda, ​​the only ones not lapped, while Ayrton finishes seventh gaining two positions compared to the starting grid, however he is unable to grab sixth place and obtain another little point, as Nigel Mansell with Lotus – Renault is too far away. Of note is the fact that of the 26 starters only 11 finished the race, many of them suffering from turbo problems.

Eighth race: Detroit GP. Once again the Brazilian demonstrates that he is very strong on the flying lap, posting a time of 1'42''651, just over a second and a half behind Piquet and seventh on the grid ahead of Cheever in the Alfa Romeo. However, he was unlucky in the race: at the start Mansell tried to insert himself between Prost and Piquet, finding himself closed between the two and the worst of it was the Brabham driver who ended up spinning and hitting Alboreto, who lost a wheel in the collision. In the crash the aforementioned ends up on Senna's Toleman in the front part, damaging the suspension. After suspending the race to clean the track of debris, Ayrton has the opportunity to restart with the forklift and continue the race. At least until the 22nd lap, when the rear suspension gives way at the end of the finishing straight, sending the driver crashing into the protections. He will come out of it with a big scare but fortunately unscathed. This is also the race where the irregularity of the Tyrrell will be discovered and its subsequent expulsion from the championship with the points being eliminated.

Ninth race: US West GP. The second race on North American soil was equally unlucky for Senna, contrary to what Saturday gave rise to hopes. Ayrton managed to place himself on the third row behind Lauda and ahead of Prost, with a time of 1'38''256, one second and 215 thousandths slower than Mansell in the Lotus. An astonishing result if you look at the previous races and above all at the fact that a "second tier" single-seater could be there, competing with the big names in the championship such as Brabham, Lotus, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari. Another help comes from the telemetry of teammate Ceccotto: fifteenth and 1''7 behind. On Sunday his race ended after 47 of the 67 laps scheduled due to clutch failure while Ceccotto was out due to a spin, after which he was unable to restart.

Tenth race: British GP. On the Brands Hatch circuit the Brazilian is once again very fast and at the end of qualifying he is seventh, 1.021 behind poleman Piquet, stuck between Warwick's Renault and Mansell's Lotus. The starting procedure was repeated after eleven laps as Palmer's RAM crashed into the guards and the stewards had to remove it. In the meantime Ayrton is sixth, in front of him are De Angelis, Warwick, Lauda, ​​Prost and Piquet, not a simple thing if you want to aim higher, but even if the race ended like this the English team would take home another point useful. But at the second start he is overtaken by several cars and is forced to make a big comeback if he wants to get into the points. And he does, of course. At the end of the race he came third behind the winner Lauda and the home runner Warwick, performing a good chase over the course of the laps on De Angelis' Lotus which he then overtook at the end of the straight, along the big bend which goes down towards the right and enters on the second straight. And the evil rumors are not long in coming: there are those who whisper that Senna brings a lot of his own, but that Toleman also used some "tricks" like the Tyrrells previously. But as we know, envy is a nasty beast and after the checks the car turns out to be in compliance with regulations. Back on the podium, increasingly protagonist of the market with a view to 1985.

Eleventh race: German GP. The race takes place on the Hockenheim circuit and the weather remains sunny throughout the weekend. Once again the young driver managed to get back into the Top 10 in qualifying, 9th to be precise, with a time of 1'49''395, with a gap of two seconds and 383 thousandths from Prost, who in turn grabbed the pole with just 53 thousandths of an advantage over Elio de Angelis. Furthermore, now all the team's attention is on him, since Ceccotto cannot participate due to a serious injury which occurred during the English GP and a replacement has not been found. However, the splendid comeback achieved at Brands Hatch was not repeated in the race: Ayrton's race ended after just four laps along the big bend leading to the chicane, when his car crashed into the barriers. The pilot comes out enraged and throws the steering wheel into the cockpit, takes off his helmet with a disconsolate look as if in search of answers, only to then give them himself. It wasn't his fault but rather the detachment of the rear wing, causing a loss of downforce right along the bend and therefore the consequent widening outwards and the crash. He also tries to explain it to the commissioners who arrived there to remove the car and secure the driver, who can only agree with him and try to console him a little.

Keep it going…

Andrea Villa