Johnny Cecotto 's Crash ends F1 dream
1101984 European GP - Brands Hatch Practice
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0:22 Ayrton Senna [For Google Translation]
I saw him inside the car right after the crash happened,
with car debris scattered all around,
I saw his broken legs [ankles],
so it all affected me in the morning,
I couldn't push my car to the limits,
for the first time I saw something [in autoracing] that disturbed me deep inside
I realized how important is life.
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Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto was Senna's first F1 partner and recently revealed that his relationship with the Brazilian was not very good.
36 years ago, Senna was debuting in Formula 1 aboard a Toleman-Hart at the Brazilian GP, in Jacarepaguá. Then at the age of 24, Senna arrived with revelation status after being champion, in the previous years, in the categories 1600 and 2000 of the F-Ford and also of the British F-3.
On the other side of the Toleman pits was Cecotto, the first South American to win a title at the World Motorbike Championship.
According to him, Senna has already arrived at Toleman by signing as the first driver.
“At first the relationship was good, close, we were together. Then we tested the same car once, in Donington, and I went a little faster. He was not happy and, even though he was the first driver, from this day on the relationship became more difficult ”, says Cecotto.
The Venezuelan recalls that Senna, as the first driver, had updated equipment, unlike the car he drove.
“He wanted all the best conditions for him [laughs]. Ayrton had the new engine of the year, with electronic injection - while mine was mechanical, from the previous year. He did all the tests, I never tested. There was a difference in power and speed, which were smaller in my car. Everything revolved around him. It was his way of being, he wanted the team for him. But I believe that, for a driver who wants to be a champion, it is [a behavior] quite normal. ”
The relationship between the two, which was already distant, ended definitively after Cecotto's accident at the 1984 British GP practice at Brands Hatch. He broke his legs in the crash, which ended his F1 career, and never had contact with the Brazilian again.