Chris Okula - Contributor
Ayrton Senna is one of the greatest racing drivers in history. He’s proven his worth time and time again on the race track donning his full racing suit and helmet to do battle with other F1 drivers. In his free time in the 90s, Senna was hired by Honda to promote and develop their new supercar, the NSX. Since Senna drove and won championships for the Mclaren Honda team, it seemed only natural for him to lead their charge into the world of supercars.
Senna had input on the chassis development after being offered a quick test drive of the then prototype NSX at the Suzuka circuit, where he was also testing his F1 car. After his initial test, Senna noted the car felt like it needed a stiffer chassis and felt fragile on track. The Honda engineers heeded his advice and increased the stiffness of the NSX’s chassis to improve performance and please their newly minted F1 champion.
After his initial input, Senna spent time on the Nurburgring testing the car and fine tuning the suspension to turn this great car into the legend we know and love today. Although he spent countless hours developing the car at the Nurburgring, my favorite video shows a casual Senna driving around Suzuka Circuit in the NSX-R. He strolls up to the car wearing loafers and no helmet, then proceeds to whip the car around the track. Senna has done a lot of legendary maneuvers in a car but watching him heel toe with this NSX is mesmerizing.
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