Viewing entries tagged
Ayrton Senna

Season Swan-Song: Brazilian GP Preview

Reaching the end of something, especially when it has been something of particular note, can often be a sad affair. While it will have great importance to some people, due to location, timing, levels of expectation, or quality of delivery, a degree of finality will still exist and it will engender a period of reflection, during which most of the best aspects will be recalled in glorious Technicolor, invariably with an aim of erecting spiritually, if not physically, a memorial to all that was great.

Calling All The Heroes

 

Just musing the other evening (it is what motoring scribes do, when F1 drivers are on annual leave), Iain Robertson found himself trying to define Formula One heroes, most especially from today’s grid, and he admitted that he found it well nigh impossible.

THE RELEVANCE OF MAGYAR: HUNGARIAN GP

 Hungaroring - July 27, 2011

Mogyoród is just 19kms from the nation’s capital twin-cities (of Buda and Pest, unified in 1873 but always divided by the beautiful Danube River) and still creates interest for motor racing fans keen to comprehend what once lay behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. Sadly, the experience is not as clear cut as it might be and, despite a resident enthusiasm to host the mid-season race, the Hungaroring’s place in the calendar might be in jeopardy.

Tifosi, Tragedy & Triumph: The Emotions of Formula 1

Michael Schumacher sits quietly in the Mercedes GP garage before the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. Photo © Mercedes GP As Henry Sanders, of Sports Illustrated (Dec 26th 1955), stated so appositely, “Sure, winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing!”, the pursuit of sporting perfection remains a pinnacle achievement for a surprising few. Yet, the support granted to it is prodigious. Worldwide Television audiences regularly top the hundreds of millions. Magazine and periodical coverage amounts to many hundreds of thousands of miles worth of column inches. However, transmitted by word of mouth, from one attending supporter to another, a crescendo builds and fanaticism grows on its back.

The Art of Driving

Today, on the anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death in 1994, I'd like to propose a bit of a debate.

Can an athlete's performance be considered art?

Art is a word that has the capacity to ignite ferocious debate. Most reasonable folks can agree that the works of Mozart and Shakespeare and DaVinci and Miles Davis are on equal footing when it comes to applying the "This is Art" label. But is "Piss Christ" art? Is Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" art? Are Jackson Pollack's splattered canvases art? Are the works of Ruby the elephant art?

What is the definition of art?

I'm not an art historian, an art scholar or and art expert of any kind whatsoever. I do appreciate art and consider its creation to be one of the defining characteristics of humanity. I think The Who's "Live at Leeds" is as important an artistic statement as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, so take my opinion for what it's worth. But that's where I go for my definition. I tend to think of art as any expression of the human condition. Art, like beauty, is all in the eye of the beholder.

So the question is, could Ayrton Senna's performances in a Formula 1 car be called a work of art? Do those drives say as much about the human condition as Charles Mingus' "Epitaph" or Michelangelo's "Universal Judgement"? Can an athletic performance be considered art?

While you're considering it, find "Senna" on Netflix or wherever you get your movies these days, and watch it.

SENNA Returns To Austin

With the arrival of the SENNA film at the SXSW Film Festival in March this year, motorsports fans and film buffs have shared a collective passion for the first time in many years.  Striking the chord of emotion, competition and passion, the SENNA film has reached an wider audience in the U.S. than the film's team ever imagined.