Forty years ago, the 25-year-old Brazilian produced possibly the finest drive of his career, and it’s still vivid in the mind of his mechanic Chris Dinnage
A
s debut victories in Formula One go, few come close to the masterclass delivered by Ayrton Senna for Lotus at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985. A drive which still stands 40 years later as one of the defining moments of the Brazilian’s extraordinary career, not least when witnessed first-hand by No 1 mechanic in Estoril, Chris Dinnage.
“It was an exceptional performance by a gifted racing driver who had one mission and that was to win, to be the best,” says Dinnage. “I think there’s very few races since where you could say someone had such a command of what they were doing.”
Senna’s victory was his first of 41 in F1 before his untimely death in 1994 and the first for Lotus since the death of their founder Colin Chapman in 1982, a significant and highly emotional moment for the team. Dinnage had joined them in 1982 and since 1993 has managed Classic Team Lotus, which curates and runs the team’s remarkable collection of former race cars.
