This year’s Silverstone Festival was particularly significant, because we chose to honour the 30-Year Legacy of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna. As event organiser, I was regularly asked: “How on earth do you go about creating such a motor sport spectacle of this scale?”
When Magneto editor David Lillywhite got in touch to ask if I would like to write a behind-the-scenes story about how the world’s largest gathering of Ayrton Senna cars came together, I thought: “Why not?” So, here it is.
In November last year, I pitched to Silverstone Festival organiser Goose Live Events the idea of celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ayrton Senna entering F1. However, we decided it was important to contact his family to ensure we had their support for our plans, which ultimately evolved into something quite different from our initial idea.
I had to create something special, and it had to be bigger than we initially had planned
I had a contact who put me directly in touch with Ayrton’s family and Senna Brands, who look after the Senna name. They told us about their plans to celebrate Ayrton’s 30-Year Legacy, a beautiful way to honour one of the greatest F1 drivers without focusing on the events of May 1994 – something I wanted to avoid.
Although they had already organised a series of events in Europe to commemorate his legacy, nothing was planned for the UK. I mentioned our plans for the Silverstone Festival, highlighting that Silverstone was the circuit where Ayrton had achieved the most success in his racing career. The synergy was perfect, and we agreed to collaborate, allowing us to use the 30-Year Legacy branding and receive their support as needed.
So the challenge was laid down. I had to create something special, and it had to be bigger than we initially had planned. Over to you, Goose Live Events said…
I already knew the whereabouts of some cars, but there were defiantly more to find. Intensive research turned up a list of 70, including cars and bikes that had been endorsed by Ayrton himself and the Senna family in the later years – but I also had to find his karts.
Once the cars had been identified, it was time to find out who owned them. This was probably the biggest challenge. Luckily, the Black Book started to reveal a few names.
One challenge I faced was that the cars were scattered across the globe, meaning we would need to transport them to and from Silverstone by road, sea and air. This, in turn, created yet another issue, because the vehicles coming from abroad would all require Carnets.
The list of challenges was getting bigger each month – not just finding the cars, but the owners, too. How do you get them here, what budget is there to do it, and will any of the Senna family join us for the event.
The next ten months were spent piecing together the puzzle, matching cars to owners and then finding contact details to invite them to what we billed as the largest gathering ever in the world of Ayrton Senna’s cars. This was to be the hook, something so special an owner couldn’t say no.
As the months passed by, one or two cars were offered, and then the press releases started to flush a few more out. Following further networking and phone conversations, more cars were soon being confirmed.
However, I needed his early cars, and I discovered that these were in an exhibition in Turin for most of 2024, along with two key Lotus F1 cars. This was potentially a disaster – a key part in the story of Ayrton’s rise to the top of motor sport was unobtainable. Many months were spent securing the cars out of the exhibition, and planning the transport to Silverstone and back in the shortest time possible, but to also collect other cars based in Europe, making sure the trucks were full.
The icing on the cake came in late July, with Senna Brands confirming Bruno Senna’s attendance. Not long after that, his sister Lalalli said she would like to come as well – and also bring the fabulous sculptures she had created of Ayrton, which would go on display in the Silverstone Museum alongside other memorabilia that had been offered.
Seven days before the event, we had one hole to fill; we needed to replace a McLaren Senna that could no longer come. This proved difficult so close to the event, but just days beforehand we were offered two. However we had to collect them, and the budget was spent. PGVM, our transport partner, offered to help.
When the gates to Silverstone opened, it became very clear I had achieved the impossible. Bruno and Lalalli Senna said that what had been assembled at the Silverstone Festival was the largest gathering ever put together anywhere in the world, and one that may never happen again.
More information on the Silverstone Festival here.
