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.