peterwindsor.com

Who are they and for whom are they waiting?

Here’s a happy bunch.  I took this shot at Zandvoort in 1982, shortly after F1 qualifying for the Dutch GP.   Next on the race card that afternoon:  the Formula Ford 2000 race.  It was Domingos Piedade (far right) who co-erced us all into watching a young Brazilian called Ayrton Senna da Silva.  Domingos was at that point best-known for being Emerson Fittipaldi’s manager but, behind the scenes, he was also co-starting a company called AMG (as in Mercedes).  I’d seen Ayrton racing FF1600 in the UK so needed no persuasion.  Domingos did a good job with some of the others, though.  From left to right:  Franco Lini (former FerrariF1 Team Manager and excellent Autosprint journalist);  Charlie Chrichton-Stuart (former race-winning F3 driver and close friend of Frank Williams);  Patrick Head (no intro needed); Nick Brittan (former kart and FVee racer, Autosport columnist, rally organizer and manager of Jody Scheckter); Alan Henry (Motoring News); and Nigel Roebuck (Autosport).  I remember Ayrton being incredibly precise and definite through that corner (Hunze Rug), although his curious on-off throttle application was evident event then.  Either way, there was no doubt that we were watching a major star of the future.  The following year I took the shot below of Ayrton at F3 Thruxton, where he was driving Dick Bennetts’ Ralt.  It’s not the greatest shot in the world, but it shows, I think, the intensity that Ayrton displayed whenever he was in a racing environment.