Customer Reviews

Ayrton Senna: The Second Coming

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This book covers the last three full seasons of Ayrton Senna's brilliant career. The theme of the book is essentially demonstrating how Senna, faced by ever inferior equipment, still conjured a world championship and a string of brilliant race wins- culminating in 1993 when, despite having no chance of winning the title, he still managed 5 wins in his slow Mclaren-Ford. This compared favourably with the 7 managed by Prost in the all conquering Williams-Renault. More than just a record of Senna's brilliance the book also captures some of the essence of his enigmatic personality and the effect he had on those who followed his career. Not a complete picture but perhaps the best Senna book- showing him in a few short years doing what he did best and showing why he will forever remain peerless.

This is a book about the latter portion of the great Ayrton Senna's racing career. The book starts with a chapter on his death at the San Marino Grand Prix in May 1994. A moment I will never forget. In the USA where Formula Racing does not carry the same fervor that it does elsewhere in the world, the worldwide popularity of Senna is under appreciated - think Michael Jordan times 10! Overall, the book is written in a journalistic style with some interesting insights into his Formula One Championship years with McLaren and his switch to Williams for the 1994 season, however, the impact he had on the world and in racing was too profound and deep to be captured in a book this concise. The most compelling sections of the book are the quotes from people throughout the world in reaction to his death, and the dialog concerning his incredible impact on fans and peers. While this book provides a good insight into his racing career, ultimately it is too narrow in scope and not deep enough to capture the genius that was Ayrton Senna, but it is a good place to start nonetheless. I would suggest one of the more in depth books on his life and career if you are interested in knowing more Ayrton Senna. Christopher Hilton is a good author and well-versed in racing, and does an excellent job capturing the inside world of Formula One.

In my opinion,Mr.Hilton has a great literature talent,but I don't believe that he completely understood or understands Ayrton.There are just too many contradictions in his telling mostly because he himself wasn't sure what Ayrton ment when he said or done something.Mr. Hilton is a great writer but not so great psychologist.