Ladies and Gentlemen, after a short break, Barney Corkhill's "A Tribute To..." series has returned!
In this series, I look at the greatest talents to grace various sports.
Today's tribute is the first from Formula One, and looks at the man many consider to be the best driver in F1 history, Ayrton Senna.
Born March 21, 1960, Ayrton Senna da Silva had an affinity for motorsports early on. He stepped into his first go-kart at the tender age of just four years old, after his sister had rejected the kart as a present.
While he may have just been messing about at first, it became obvious that Senna had a talent for motorsports at a very early age.
As he got older, he started to take the karting more seriously, and at just 13 years old, he began partaking in competitions.
As these competitions got bigger, Senna got better. His early start and natural gift gave him an edge over other competitors, as he showed at just 17 years old, winning the South American Kart Championship.
He had his eyes on an even bigger prize, however. Between 1978 and 1982, Senna competed in the Karting World Championship. He proved his worth by finishing as runner-up in both 1979 and 1980.
Senna soon moved from his native Brazil to England, where he won numerous competitions, and not just in the world of Karting.
This prolific winning caught the attention of a number of Formula One teams, including McLaren, Williams, and Brabham. Despite testing for all of them, however, he was overlooked for various reasons.
McLaren and Williams, although interested, had no vacancy, while Brabham's Nelson Piquet made it clear that he would rather have his friend, Roberto Moreno, alongside him.
Senna, therefore, joined Toleman, a team who had been at the bottom of the F1 pile ever since their inception three years previously.
Senna improved their fortunes radically, however.
His debut came in his native Brazil, but he would have to wait for the next race to secure his first World Championship point.
A highlight of the debut season came at the Monaco Grand Prix. Senna seemed to thrive on the tough twists and turns of Monaco, even more amazing considering the atrocious weather.
It was so bad, in fact, that the race was stopped after just 31 laps. In those 31 laps, Senna had moved up from 13th to second, and was closing in on race leader Alain Prost at an alarming pace.
It wouldn't be the last time those two would lock horns.
Senna's debut season, which included another two podium finishes and a ninth place finish in the Drivers' Championship, was soured somewhat by his suspension by Toleman.
The reasons for his suspension, however, were encouraging for Senna. He had signed for Lotus, but had done so without informing Toleman first.
During his first season at Lotus, Senna became known for his phenomenally quick qualifying times. He began races in pole position seven times that season, more than any other driver.
The very first of these, at the Portuguese Grand Prix, was converted into a race win, the first of his F1 career. Despite relations with his Lotus teammate souring, Senna finished fourth in that year's Drivers' Championship.
Another fourth place finish in the Drivers' Championship came the following season as Senna furthered his reputation as the fastest qualifier, getting pole position eight times.
He led the Drivers' Championships early on in the season, finishing second in Brazil and winning the Spanish Grand Prix in the most dramatic of fashions—beating Nigel Mansell by just 0.014 seconds.
The following season was to be Senna's last at Lotus after he became dissatisfied with the gap in quality between their cars and those of Williams, and later McLaren.
Despite this, Senna proved his pure driving skill by winning the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix for the first time. He went on to win it six times, more than any other driver in history.
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