Suzuka Special 2004 - Emails to webmaster

Where were you when Senna nearly killed Prost?

Hi Alan,

I am a huge fan of Alain Prost! I (like you) know that he is the greatest Formula One driver ever. All this talk of Senna possibly having been a 7 time world champion is complete bollocks! This argument could be used for any driver in history ... Satoru Nakajima could have been 7 times world champion, if all the drivers ahead of him consistently crashed and let him pass for 7 years ;) Anyway, we all know that in 1988 Alain Prost was screwed by an outdated and insane scoring system which penalised consistent finishing.

Where was I on that dark day? I was at my parents place, the rest of the family was doing other things, leaving me to watch the Grand Prix in peace as I was very nervous about the race. Prost had to win, it was a simple as that. Senna was whining about pole being on what he deemed to be the wrong side of the track ... something was up.

Prost won the start, and well. I thought this is brilliant, Senna knows he can't match Prost for pace. Then the unthinkable happened ... Senna drove into Prost, not lifting of the accelerator. After the dust settled, I was pleased to see that Prost was still alive ... and an after thought that Senna was too.

I was fuming !!! I sat motionless for what seemed like forever. I could not believe what I had just seen. Senna had done the unthinkable, to the reasonable human, however we are talking about Senna. He wanted to win the title at any cost, and could not allow anybody not least Alain Prost to win "his title". My mother walked in to the room near the end of the race and asked how the race was going. I could only say "he crashed into Prost ... the title has gone". Mum just nodded and left me in peace for a little while longer.

What pissed me off the most about the whole incident was that Senna refused to confess that he did indeed take Prost out of the race until years later just before his death (better late than never).

As much as I dislike the man, Senna was good for Prost. Thier rivallry will never be matched. The two best drivers of thier time, in the same cars ... head to head! The racing in 1988 & 1989 will never be bettered!

Anonymous, Sydney, Australia
August 2004