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10 Apr 2004, 22:47 (Ref:936120) | #1 | ||
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Senna Penske Test In 1992
Apparently Senna was attempting to get more $$$'s out of Ron Dennis at the time & informed him he was going to check out the CART scene...the other theory as well, both he & Fittipaldi were close friends & Emmo had always promised Senna a chance to drive his CART Penske race car.
The fact both were sponsered by Marlboro didn't hinder matters either! At the end of the day, Senna, although he was very interested in racing CART, the thought of racing at super speedways was not to his liking: the thought of racing with a possibility of hitting a wall at 220+ mph was not wise in his mind. Memorable pics below. Pic-1 Pic-2 Pic-3 Pic-4 Pic-5 |
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10 Apr 2004, 23:42 (Ref:936151) | #2 | ||
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I'm not big on "What If?", but this is one of my alltime favourites. What if Senna had come to CART that year? Imagine Senna v. Mansell. That would have been some serious racing. And let's not forget Tracy either. In the latter part of '93, Tracy was the one guy who could consistantly run with Mansell. In fact, he often out ran him on road circuits, Nigel getting better results on the ovals. That's what led to Paul's Benetton test - another great "what if".
BTW, did you see Paul in photo #1? He's the slim guy with the big mop of hair (!). Thanks for the great photos, Ted. |
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11 Apr 2004, 00:10 (Ref:936156) | #3 | ||
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Thanks for the pics Ted , they are awesome.
I too would have loved to see Ayrton have a crack at CART , wasnt to be I guess |
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11 Apr 2004, 04:10 (Ref:936213) | #4 | ||
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He also mentioned he liked changing gears with the stick if i remember correctly.
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11 Apr 2004, 07:25 (Ref:936267) | #5 | ||
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Those were great photos, Ted. Thank you for sharing a very interesting moment in CART's history. Yeah, Senna in CART would have been cool, but if it was meant to be then it would have happened, I'm sure.
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11 Apr 2004, 10:54 (Ref:936388) | #6 | ||
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TedN:
Truly interesting article...considering what you started, I WROTE the EXACT same thing on another racing web site! Check out www.tomotorsports.com go to the Bulletin Board section, go to Formula 1 & the thread titled "Senna's Penske Test...a familiar Face in the group". This obivously was a thread about the fact, Senna tested a Penske back in Dec. '92 at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix. Among the interested observers was a very young Paul Tracy! You have virtually taken verbatim what I wrote back on April 7 at 07:53! The pics you so kindly supply here were also supplied by the original poster "micron" on the tomotorsport web site. Kindly do me a favor, if you're going to use something I write, simply ask first! |
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11 Apr 2004, 14:56 (Ref:936538) | #7 | |||
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Quote:
Ted |
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11 Apr 2004, 16:30 (Ref:936590) | #8 | ||
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Honda was leaving just then and McLaren had to be content with a Ford HB V8. Ron Dennis had even tried to buy Ligier since Ligier had Renault engines, but he did not succeed.
Senna was desperately wanting to go to Williams, since Frank had given him his first F1 test and because the Williams-Renaults were the class of the field. Emerson had told him that he could test a Penske any time and he took the chance. That probably scared Bernie a bit, but in the end Senna ended up winning 5 races in one of his most memorable seasons. |
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11 Apr 2004, 16:33 (Ref:936592) | #9 | ||
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Tracy... here he was, in 1993, talking to 5 F1 world titles!
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11 Apr 2004, 17:30 (Ref:936612) | #10 | ||
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TedN: Apology accepted.
Back to that day at Firebird Raceway, allegedly, Penske was so impressed with the feedback from Senna he was willing to give him a ride in the '93 Indy 500! Imagine had that come to fruitation...Senna, Mansell, Ma. Andretti, E. Fittipaldi, just to name a few....THAT would have been a race. As we all know though, Senna never raced in CART. |
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11 Apr 2004, 18:19 (Ref:936640) | #11 | |
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If Roger Penske wouldnt have given him an Indy500 ride prior to the firebird test, the man is senile.
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11 Apr 2004, 18:54 (Ref:936653) | #12 | ||
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That definately would have been interesting. Imagine what could have happened if he'd come over? The series would have been incredibly strong.
IMO PT was beter off staying in CART. Look at how many years he has struggled to use his speed to get the results. I think the pressure of F1 would have simply exasperated the negative effect. |
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