READ – Senna: The Playboy Interview

By Zack Klapman

“I started with the car and I broke the lap record.” -Senna

That was the first time Ayrton Senna had ever driven an F1 car. The. First. Time. Wow.

Makes me feel bad when I look back on the “firsts” of my life. There was a girl from my school who I certainly didn’t “set lap records” on. I usually threw a rod after only a few laps.

That sentence comes the interview Senna did in 1990 with Playboy Brazil. Honest, personal, at time digging, it’s like sitting with Senna and having him tell you the story from the beginning: How it started, siblings, cheating in school, and of course, women.  We found it at autosport.com.

We’ve all seen the documentary and watched the clips online. We know about his racing, his driving style, his crash. This is the rest.

They say don’t meet your heroes (“Mel Gibson! I love the Lethal Weapon movies! OMG you’re so-I’m sorry, did you just say “Death to kites?” or did you say-why is your trunk filled with burned menorahs?)

But there’s no rule against learning more about them. In cases like this, it only makes your appreciation of the person greater.

Click through to Autosport.com to read the interview.

@thesmokingtire @zackklapman