An exclusive gallery of Ayrton Senna’s Van Diemen RF81 from the December 2018 issue of Motor Sport. Pick up or download your copy here
Ayrton Senna’s Van Diemen RF81 – chassis 528 – has just been restored by Van Diemen founder Ralph Firman, and Motor Sport has the full story in the latest issue.
Firman gave Ayrton Da Silva his big break in the UK and this car was painstakingly restored in Norfolk, where it was originally built.
Senna finished fifth on his FF1600 debut at Brands Hatch on March 1, 1981, and took his maiden victory there a couple of weeks later. He finished the season with 12 wins, six other podiums, and the championship.
The Van Diemen also features the Minister 1600 engine, identical to the 1981 original.
We are the first people to see it for decades.
Think of the great Formula 1 champions and Jody Scheckter is unlikely to feature. But, writes Matt Bishop, the 1979 title-winner deserves more acclaim for a career in which he was once the best driver, bar none
Opportunities come few and far between in motor sport, so rookies must grab any chance with both hands. From F1 to MotoGP, Linus Lundqvist's IndyCar drive lives among some of the greatest racing debuts in motor sport history
The Hudson Hornet is known for its role in Disney film Cars but the story that inspired it is just as compelling: here's how Herb Thomas raced the legendary car to two NASCAR titles and missed out on a third in controversial circumstances
F1 Retro
Silverstone marked the arrival of Williams as an F1 grand prix winner, writes Mark Hughes. It witnessed dominant victories in the constructor's glory days and, last weekend, it saw a (temporarily) resurgent team celebrating its imminent 800th GP.