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Campos Meta bring Senna name back to F1
Source: Agencies |
October 31, 2009, Saturday
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THE Senna name will be back in Formula One next season after the new Campos Meta team announced today they had signed late world champion Ayrton's nephew Bruno.
"For Campos Meta it is an extraordinary honour to be returning the name of Senna to Formula One," Campos Meta CEO Enrique Rodriguez de Castro said in a statement ahead of tomorrow's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"The deal with Senna confirms and re-enforces our prime objective of being not only the first Spanish Formula One team, but rather the first Iberian-American F1 team", he added.
Triple champion Ayrton Senna, revered and mourned as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, died when he crashed his Williams in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
His 26-year-old nephew was runner-up in the GP2 support series last year and has competed in the Le Mans sportscar series since then.
"I'm absolutely delighted to fulfill a lifetime dream," said Senna. "Now it is time to set new targets."
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone welcomed the news, and suggested he could even pair up with compatriot Nelson Piquet, whose father was a triple champion and rival of Senna in the late 1980s.
Piquet junior was dropped by Renault in August before triggering a race-fixing scandal that left the team with a suspended permanent ban.
"It's good for everybody. Good for him (Senna), good for Campos and good for the sport," he said. "I am happy, I hope the car is up to him. that's important."
Asked about the possibility of a Piquet return, perhaps alongside Senna, Ecclestone added: "It would be good wouldn't it? Another good name ... that's what's been talked about actually."
The Spanish-based team, founded by former racer Adrian Campos, said they would give more details in a news conference in Murcia.
Campos Meta have yet to name a second driver, despite media speculation that McLaren's experienced reserve Pedro de la Rosa was the leading candidate.
"It is a great pleasure to welcome Bruno Senna in the team," said Rodriguez de Castro, calling the Brazilian one of the "most promising and up-and-coming drivers of his generation".
"We have followed him closely since his early days in minor series and test and witnessed how quickly he developed his speed ands skills at GP2.
"It is astonishing how fast he is entering the F1 scenario after just a few years in motor racing."
Senna, whose mother Viviane was Ayrton's sister, had been lined up to race for Honda this year before that team decided to withdraw from Formula One.
Their successors Brawn, this year's champions, opted to continue for experienced compatriot Rubens Barrichello instead of the untested rookie when they emerged from the remains of Honda in March.
Bruno and Ayrton Senna used to race go-karts together, with the lighter nephew often winning.
However the youngster stopped racing after 1994, with his family hit by further tragedy when his father died in a motorcycle accident.
Bruno did not return to the racetrack until he was 18.
In 2006, he won three of the first four races for a team part-owned by Kimi Raikkonen in the British Formula Three championship, a series his uncle won in 1983 before moving directly into Formula One.
"For Campos Meta it is an extraordinary honour to be returning the name of Senna to Formula One," Campos Meta CEO Enrique Rodriguez de Castro said in a statement ahead of tomorrow's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"The deal with Senna confirms and re-enforces our prime objective of being not only the first Spanish Formula One team, but rather the first Iberian-American F1 team", he added.
Triple champion Ayrton Senna, revered and mourned as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, died when he crashed his Williams in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
His 26-year-old nephew was runner-up in the GP2 support series last year and has competed in the Le Mans sportscar series since then.
"I'm absolutely delighted to fulfill a lifetime dream," said Senna. "Now it is time to set new targets."
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone welcomed the news, and suggested he could even pair up with compatriot Nelson Piquet, whose father was a triple champion and rival of Senna in the late 1980s.
Piquet junior was dropped by Renault in August before triggering a race-fixing scandal that left the team with a suspended permanent ban.
"It's good for everybody. Good for him (Senna), good for Campos and good for the sport," he said. "I am happy, I hope the car is up to him. that's important."
Asked about the possibility of a Piquet return, perhaps alongside Senna, Ecclestone added: "It would be good wouldn't it? Another good name ... that's what's been talked about actually."
The Spanish-based team, founded by former racer Adrian Campos, said they would give more details in a news conference in Murcia.
Campos Meta have yet to name a second driver, despite media speculation that McLaren's experienced reserve Pedro de la Rosa was the leading candidate.
"It is a great pleasure to welcome Bruno Senna in the team," said Rodriguez de Castro, calling the Brazilian one of the "most promising and up-and-coming drivers of his generation".
"We have followed him closely since his early days in minor series and test and witnessed how quickly he developed his speed ands skills at GP2.
"It is astonishing how fast he is entering the F1 scenario after just a few years in motor racing."
Senna, whose mother Viviane was Ayrton's sister, had been lined up to race for Honda this year before that team decided to withdraw from Formula One.
Their successors Brawn, this year's champions, opted to continue for experienced compatriot Rubens Barrichello instead of the untested rookie when they emerged from the remains of Honda in March.
Bruno and Ayrton Senna used to race go-karts together, with the lighter nephew often winning.
However the youngster stopped racing after 1994, with his family hit by further tragedy when his father died in a motorcycle accident.
Bruno did not return to the racetrack until he was 18.
In 2006, he won three of the first four races for a team part-owned by Kimi Raikkonen in the British Formula Three championship, a series his uncle won in 1983 before moving directly into Formula One.
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