Ayrton Senna and the Honda NSX are synonymous, mostly thanks to the amazing video of the Brazilian Formula 1 legend driving the Japanese supercar with precision around Suzuka.
As we’ve previously written, the three-time world champion had aspirations of helping to develop his own road car, which ultimately led to the McLaren Senna. However, during our recent interview with Bruno Senna, Ayrton’s nephew and McLaren Brand Ambassador, we couldn’t help asking about the Honda.
READ MORE: How McLaren is carrying on the Senna legacy
Bruno’s answer was as amazing as it was unexpected, with him revealing a stunning story of Ayrton being the embodiment of a ‘fun uncle’ (at least in our opinion).
“We have [an NSX] in Brazil that belonged to Ayrton, it’s a black one,” Bruno said. “But curiously enough, the first time I drove an NSX I was nine years old. In Portugal, so luckily you cannot be arrested for this thing now because it’s so long ago, but Ayrton used to have a house in Portugal in the south, in the Algarve, and there was a little go-kart track, which was not too far from the house. So he took me, my sisters, all the family to the go-kart track and we drove the NSX and another car with everybody else. Then we drove at the go-kart track and on the way back we drove the NSX and Ayrton sat in the driver’s seat and he put me on his lap. This is at night and I had my two sisters on the passenger seat of the NSX and we’re driving on this sort of like mountain road and I’m like a nine-year-old steering this car and he’s doing gears and throttle and brakes.
“So I’ll never forget this. Clearly he had some confidence in what I was doing, because you have a nine-year-old driving a car with your family in it. That was the first time I drove an NSX.”
Check out the famous footage of Ayrton testing the Honda NSX at Suzuka – in loafers!
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