WALTER MASINI

SENNA’S TEAMMATE

In the mid-70s, Walter Masini, who is now an historic and award-winning trainer, was one of the “veteran” DAP drivers who, one day, saw the arrival of a completely unknown young Brazilian teammate: Ayrton Senna. Masini was more than 10 years older, but he knew, from the outset, that this young man would end up being higher in the team’s hierarchy.

"I remember when Ayrton joined our team, and I remember that there was never any problem. He was the emerging talent, who devoted all his energy to karting, and a good relationship was immediately established between us, without envy or rivalry.

Senna was the leader of the team, the one who would have a new chassis available for each race. And he was the one who used the new tyres. In fact, I would take his after he had used them for 70-80 laps. However, I remember that at the world championships in Parma, I think it was in 1977, using Ayrton’s tyres after he had used them, I finished behind him by only 2 centimetres in the qualifiers. This gave me great satisfaction, even though I was the first driver to be excluded.