Ayrton Senna's epic 1993 Donington Park F1 win to be celebrated
Ayrton Senna's victory in the rain-soaked 1993 European Grand Prix, Donington Park's one-off Formula 1 world championship race, will be celebrated at the track's Historic Festival in May
To mark the 25th anniversary of one of the finest opening laps in F1 history, there will be F1 car demonstration laps on the Saturday and Sunday of the May 4-6 event plus a static display on all three days.
The F1 cars on show will pay tribute to Senna, and were either raced by him or against him during his career up to 1993.
They include the Toleman TG-184-01 Hart turbo in which Senna caused a sensation in Friday practice at the 1984 British GP and the McLaren MP4/8 that was Senna's test car for the 1993 Donington Park race, which will come courtesy of the Donington Collection museum.
Also on hand will be a 1993 Benetton B193B raced by Michael Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese, Gerhard Berger's 1992 Canadian GP-winning McLaren MP4/7A-8 (also courtesy of the Donington Collection museum) and a Lotus-Judd 101/3 campaigned in 1989 by Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima.
The only world championship GP held at Donington is one of Senna's most revered drives and widely-regarded as the best opening-lap charge in F1 history.
Senna was in a league of his own as he raced from fourth to first in under a lap.
In changing conditions it took approaching two hours to run the planned 76 laps.
Senna lost time in the pits when taking slicks as conditions improved, but later underpinned his winning margin by staying on slicks as more rain came.
Only Damon Hill's Williams remained on the lead lap in a race that has earned a place in F1 folklore.
Historic Festival visitors will be invited to share their memories of that famous race on display boards at the event, with fans also able to contribute memories to a 'scrapbook' board in advance.
The weekend features 19 races from 14 grids across two full days (Saturday and Sunday) with saloons, GTs, sports-racers and single-seaters spanning the 1920s to the 1990s.
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