What if Senna had never made it to Europe?

They say timing is everything. Sometimes timing is totally out of our control, so opportunities are lost, sublime talents wasted forever. When timing is perfect, “stars align”, things work out, talents reach fruition. The meritocracy idea that talented people always reach the top is bogus. 

History is a sum of intercalated past events, in different times and places that conspire to change the present and the future. So what we see and experience today had multiple roots in the past.

Thus, the fact that Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian driver, eventually made it to Europe and conquered Formula 1, inspiring future generations of drivers all over the world, took root in the timing of certain events in Brazil (and the world), back in the 70’s. The timing of such events was perfect, preceding the 1973 oil crisis and matching the height of the Brazilian “economic miracle”. The fact is, had the Brazilian racing scene remained sleepy, disorganized and stagnant until 1974, and attempts were made to go international in the midst of a crisis that greatly affected racing between 1974 and 1976, it is quite possible that Senna’s talents would have been wasted in the process.

These events, that happened between 1969 and 1972, opened the door for the likes of Senna to pursue racing abroad seriously, enabling drivers to secure sponsorship even in the midst of a very serious and long local economic crisis whose onset was 1974 and lasted through the 90’s. It should be remembered that by late 1974 Brazil already had a 2-time Formula 1 world champion, and ten years later, when Senna debuted in Formula 1, another driver had reached that same status. This series of events Brazilian opened to doors to other South Americans as well, for South American drivers (including Argentines) were a very rare sight in European race tracks during the 60’s, but as events unfolded, Uruguayans, Peruvians, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Chileans and Venezuelans also took a crack. In short, Emerson Fittipaldi’s success and quick rise to fame is the root of all this.

That prompted me to write a case study, Brazil from Footnote to Relevance in the course of three seasons, which discusses in detail what happened during these years, and sets the tone for internationalization. It required the right elements at the right time. The 80-page text is provided as a bonus to my book Motor Racing in the 70’s – Pivoting from Romantic to Organized, which can be bought at Amazon stores in USA, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Spain, Italy and Australia, or in the site motorracingbooks.com. The rest of the 382-page book deals with racing all over the world, with rare lists, statistics and information about all types of racing in the Americas, the Caribbean, Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia/New Zealand. Required reading for anybody who is really interested in racing history and Ayrton Senna.

  

Much more than meets the eyes

Most car of the world's motor racing literature is written in English. I would not dare pegging a percentage, but an educated guess is much more than 80%. Back in the 70's the percentage was  even higher, as publishing technology and markets were very restricted.

As a result, much of what you read about racing in the period covers the USA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New  Zealand. That was pretty much what the British and American specialized media was covering these days in magazines, newspapers, books and annuals.

This gives a very wrong impression that racing was not taking place elsewhere in the world, especially in places where English was not spoken.

When I got the idea for my book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized, I would be doing what 99% of motoring writers had done when covering the period: focusing entirely on the major racing taking place in the SA (plus Canada), Western Europe, South Africa and Australia/New  Zealand.

Then I had an epiphany of sorts. Why write another book that concentrated on major racing, leaving out the all other wonderfully "romantic" racing taking place in South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe? It seemed unfair, given that the book was supposed to be a celebration of  the romantic racing being practiced in the area and comprehensive. I simply could not leave out the wonderful racing taking place in Argentina, the dozens upon dozens of venues around the world, races held in unlikely locations...Just writing about Formula 1, like hundreds of other books seemed to be a waste of time and money. Repeating the same old anecdotes you can read about in hundreds of Internet forums seemed unnecessary

Talking about world racing and leaving out the wonderful competitions and cars from Argentina - and dozens of other countries - seemed an unfair corruption of  history.
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I did not leave Formula 1 out. Instead, I picked out interesting bits and pieces, plus some specific statistics from the period. And did cover all the major championships.

The difference is in the details, the thousands of rare pieces of information concerning constructors, racing venues across the world (including hill climbs), the most significant drivers from seventy-two countries, some of which you had not idea held races way back then. Even from widely covered countries such as Britain, France, Italy, you will learn about categories long gone, certain makes you never imagined were involved in racing and find out about the local racing scenes of dozen of countries.   

There are also sections on money in the period's racing, sponsors, female drivers and short bios of the most striking personalities from the period, as well as an essay that discusses the pivoting that is the core idea of the book.

There is also a bonus section that covers in detail the development of Brazil as a force to be reckoned with, which left the status of footnote in 1969 to relevance in three seasons.

This is the ultimate reference on 70s racing, a must-have for any true enthusiast.

The book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized can be bought here

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426