Senna exhibition opens in London

| 10 Mar 2014

An exhibition showcasing Keith Sutton's photographs of Ayrton Senna has opened in London. The launch event on 5 March was attended by, among others, Senna's longtime rival Martin Brundle, plus Dennis Rushen and Dick Bennetts – who ran him in Formula Ford and Formula Three respectively. 

 

Sutton first met Senna in 1981, when the Brazilian was racing in Formula Ford 1600. He needed to send photographs back to South America, so the pair struck up a relationship - and friendship - that led to Sutton handling Senna's public relations through ’82 and ’83.

 

"I used to get phonecalls from Bernie Ecclestone, Ron Dennis and Frank Williams, checking up on his progress," said Sutton, who recalled producing stylish headed paper with 'Ayrton Senna da Silva' across the top and his own rather humble address across the bottom.

 

Ayrton Senna Keith Sutton

 

Among the pictures is one showing the two men celebrating Senna's FF2000 title in ’82. It was at the start of an evening that ended with the young racing driver attempting to perform wheelies on a moped that he found outside: "He never drank, so the couple that he had went straight to his head…"

 

Ayrton Senna Martin Brundle

 

Bennetts recalled the drama of the following year's F3 championship finale while looking at a picture showing his West Surrey Racing team welcoming Senna back into the Thruxton paddock.

 

"We taped up one of the intakes in order to quickly get the oil temperature up. Problem was, he needed to remove the tape after a couple of laps.

 

"We'd tried it in testing and it was fine, but at Thruxton he couldn't reach it. He had to wait until he was going relatively slowly through the chicane, loosen his belts and reach out - almost losing the car in the process!"

 

Ayrton Senna exhibition

 

Sutton continued to photograph Senna throughout his F1 career, and the display covers everything up to the harrowing weekend at Imola in 1994.

 

Ayrton Senna exhibition

 

The free display at Proud Chelsea on the King's Road has been compiled with the help and approval of Senna's family via the Ayrton Senna Institute. It is open to the public until 4 May.