Ayrton was there, about two meters apart, in front of me.

He was half sited on a working table of the press room, near a window from where we could see the control tower of the Estoril Circuit.

Static, not a single movement that I could see, his eyes looking nowhere, exhausted after the second qualification session that assured him his first F1 pole position.

I was there, silently witnessing that strongly insight scene, with my Minolta camera holding from my neck.

I could have taken a great photo. I didn’t do it.

I did not even move. I felt that I couldn’t disturb him and steal that inside moment from him.

The magic had just begun.

APRIL IN PORTUGAL

It was a very rainy month that April 85.

I was in my first year of Medical Internship and worked as freelance Technical Illustrator for Turbo magazine of my late friend José Vieira.

That was the second GP I attended, at the Estoril Circuit, and the second race of that Year’s Championship. After the grand finale between Lauda and Prost in 84, the race had moved to the beginning of the Championship, and there were so many novelties to discover: new teams, Minardi and Zakspeed, new drivers and, more important to me, so many technical evolutions!

During that weekend I’ve made some of my best black and white photos.

JOHN BARNARD

I remember so well that weekend’s race! On Friday I looked for and get to talk with McLaren’s technical director, the very innovative and perfectionist John Barnard.

I had taken with me a copy of the poster that Turbo made the previous Year with an exploded view drawing that I’d made of the McLaren MP4/2 – TAG Porsche, double World Champion with Lauda and Prost, and asked him about the main changes to the new MP4/2B. I would probably be going to make the cutaway drawing of the new car and that information would be precious to me.

He kindly explained to me the subtle evolution that made the new car even better, in his quest for the perfect car!

THE FIRST POLE

On Friday afternoon, the first qualification session confirmed the high competitivity of the new Lotus-Renault, a project of the late Gerard Ducarouge. Both drivers toped the results under an unstable weather, and joined the McLaren-TAG Porsche, Ferrari and Williams-Honda as possible race winners.

The next day, on a dry afternoon, Ayrton Senna surprised everybody with a lap time better than the previous Year’s pole, from Nelson Piquet at the wheel of the most powerful Brabham-BMW. Alan Prost completed the first row, followed by Keke Rosberg in the also emergent Williams-Honda and Elio de Angelis on the other Lotus-Renault.

MAGIC SENNA

That Sunday afternoon was unforgettable! The race started and finished under heavy rain.

Nowadays, in similar conditions, it would be unthinkable to even start the race!

During the whole race I was on the inside of the track. At the start I was at the end of the long straight and of the pitlane exit, then in the outside of the VIP Curve.

I was so fascinated with Ayrton mastery of his car that he dominated under so difficult conditions. Where all the other drivers looked to be nowhere, sliding over the damp track, his Lotus-Renault seemed to run over rails.

The end of the race confirmed Ayrton Senna as the new Formula 1 master that was beginning a fabulous career. I noticed then that I was completely wet.

Ayrton had already showed his talent in a fabulous drive on previous year’s Monaco GP, when a first Formula 1 victory was denied to him by a controverse race interruption.

In that rainy Easter weekend at Estoril Circuit, Senna’s talent could finally reveal in an unforgettable race. In magic that will last forever in our hearts and in motorsport history.

And I was there to witness it.