- Due to technical restrictions, this article uses the sharp symbol (♯) to represent #.
The Ayrton Senna DAP Racing Kart #17 '80 is the racing kart used by Ayrton Senna during the 1980 World Karting Championship. It only appeared in Gran Turismo 6, added as part of Update 1.08.
In-game description[]
"A machine from the Kart racing days of Ayrton Senna, who later commented it to be the happiest part of his racing career."
In 1978, an 18 year old youth from São Paulo, Brazil set his foot on European soil. His name was Ayrton Senna da Silva.
Having been given a go kart from his father at the age of 4, driving was always a part of his life. Starting go kart racing at the age of 13, he set a new lap record at the Interlagos Kart Course on his debut race, and in the following year won the São Paulo Jr. Championships. In 1975 he reached 2nd in the Brazilian Championships, and in 1977 became champion of the South American Kart Championships. Seeking new ground for furthering his career, he went overseas to Europe.
He headed for Milan, Italy, to the famous Kart manufacturer DAP. DAP, which was established in 1970 by Angelo Parilla and his brother Achille, was a factory that had become famous with a high performance 3 port engine, and in 1977 they collaborated with their rival BM to become an even more competitive team. Though their 1978 machine was a conventional 28 mm tubing combined with a 3 bearing/25 mm axle, this was a serious racing machine that even adopted many magnesium components.
Becoming a works driver for DAP, Senna challenged the World Kart Championships held at Le Mans in 1978, coming in 6th place. On his second try in 1979 he came in first in the World Championship Race held in Estoril, but was ultimately ranked 2nd overall to his own teammate Peter Koene due to a complex point system. Though this brought tears to his eyes, he also won that year at the San Marino Championship, and came in 2nd place in both the Swiss and Italian GP. In 1980, the 20 year old Senna made his third attempt at the World Championship, but was defeated by Dutchman Peter de Bruijn.
In the end, Senna went for the title 5 times, but never became a karting world champion. Still, he later commented that his karting days were the happiest moments in his racing career. A battle of skill untouched by politics behind the stage, Senna was drawn to the purity of kart racing throughout his life.
Acquisition[]
Game | Purchase location | Credits | Other methods |
---|---|---|---|
Gran Turismo 6 ( ![]() |
Ayrton Senna Dealership | 100,000 | Achieve Gold in Challenge 1 of the Ayrton Senna Tribute special event. |
Trivia[]
- It is the first real-life racing kart to appear in the Gran Turismo series.