Bologna –
The initiative “Magic 1994/2024 – Ayrton Senna, the man behind the driver” was held today, Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Biagi Auditorium of Salaborsa in Bologna. During the event, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of his death, valuable testimonies were in fact collected from the Brazilian champion’s friends and collaborators. Guests on stage Gian Carlo Minardi, current president of Formula Imola, Carlo Cavicchi, sports journalist and writer, Angelo Orsi, Ayrton’s friend and photographer, and Massimo Zanetti, President of Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
These are the words released on the sidelines of the event by President Zanetti: “When I received the invitation I could only say yes, because for me Ayrton was like a younger brother, because I was young myself. I put him in the car and I was there with him the day he unfortunately disappeared.
What is the memory of Ayrton? There are so many. One memory that always comes to mind is a grand prix in Melbourne. It was the first grand prix he was doing and during a lunch I went to a corner before the straight alone to let the afternoon pass, he walked up to me and we were talking a lot, he wanted advice because he was still a young guy. For me those are very good memories. I met many champions and I have to say this: champions look a little bit like everybody, they are very normal people, they are very quiet people because they don’t have to prove anything. Another great friend of mine was Niki Lauda, he was the easiest and nicest person there was. The important thing for Virtus is to get to the Euroleague playoffs. Monaco is a very strong team, its president is also to a friend and I told him “we are one to one,” we won there and they won here. Once you win, another time you lose, the important thing is to get in the playoffs.”
