Senna will be looking to shake off campaign jinx

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 38

Senna will be looking to shake off campaign jinx

By

GEORGE TANNER

The defending world drivers’ champion, Ayrton Senna, of Brazil, will be hoping to shake off the jinx that has plagued his championship campaign in recent months in the West German Grand Prix at Hockenheim this weekend. Senna, aged 29, has failed to finish the last four Formula One races, ,in the United States, Canada, France and Britain, and with the exception of the Canadian event, his Marlboro McLaren Honda team-mate, Alain Prost, of France, has capitalised with convincing victories. Prost now has a commanding 20-point advantage over the hapless Brazilian. The German event is the ninth round in the 16-

race series, and will be held on the 6.797 km Hockenheim circuit, situated in a dense pine forest 25km south-west of Heidelberg. The circuit was built in the 1930 s as a virtual high-speed oval to show off the superiority of the German-built Mercedes and Auto Union teams. During the early 19605, the track was extensively altered. One end was redesigned into an amphi theatre, formed by enormous grandstands. In more recent times, chicanes, marked out with large slabs of polystyrene, have been placed strategically in an effort to reduce the high speeds of today’s modern racing cars. The West-German Grand Prix was first held at Hockenheim in 1970,

the occasion providing the last victory of the late Jochen Rindt, of Austria who drove his Lotus 72 to a narrow win after a race-long duel with a Ferrari driven by the Belgian ace, Jacky Ickx. With the exception of the 1985 event, the Hockenheim circuit has been the permanent venue for the country’s premier motor race since Niki Lauda’s near-fatal crash in 1976, led to safety alterations to the traditional venue at Nurburg ring. The Hockenheim circuit holds particularly sad memories for the author. On a bleak Sunday afternoon in April, 1968, Jim Clark, of Scotland, the driver I consider the greatest of all time, lost his life in a European

championship Formula Two race. Last year’s West-Ger-man Grand Prix was won by Senna, but this year he appears to have lost his midas touch, albeit through mechanical gremlins. This circuit, through its very nature, is noted for the punishment it gives engines and brakes; this will do little to inspire the world champion’s confidence. Senna’s main opponents, Prost, Nigel Mansell, Gerhard Berger, Riccardo Patrese, Thierry Boutsen and one or two others, will be determined to spoil any chance he has of clawing his way back into title contention. Should Senna’s misfortunes continue on Sunday, he will be hard-pushed to find any sympathy from them.