JAMES HUNT versus Niki Lauda in a true-to-life remake of a thrilling 1976 blockbuster. The clamour to see the F1 film Rush is understandable and yet it was a man in a rush in the 1980s who still stirs more memories for most aficionados of the sport.
Ayrton Senna, who died in Italy aged 34, at Imola in 1994, remains arguably the best F1 driver that ever lived. And reading Tom Rubython’s superb biography, The Life of Senna, there was a passage that bears testimony to Naked Leader founder David Taylor’s vision of how we should live our own lives.
David often speaks of the child who is on a voyage of discovery – that child being us, getting older and meeting different challenges. He maintains that striving to be better is something we can all do. We can achieve what we want if we want to and it is our choice.
Well, here is that short passage from the book – Senna’s own thoughts – which is proof of that philosophy.
‘The motivating factor is the discoveries that I keep having every time I am driving. When I push, I go and find something else. I go again and I find something more. That is perhaps the most fascinating motivating factor for me. You are like an explorer finding a new world.
‘You have this desire to go into places you have never been before. The situation is extremely absorbing. And perhaps, because I have experienced on many occasions the feeling of finding new things, even if I thought “OK, that is my maximum”, then suddenly I find something extra.
‘It is the challenge of doing better all the time. That process is something almost non-stop, in terms of excitement and motivation.
‘The perfect lap is achieved when the driving becomes automatic because your brain controls the throttle.’
So, the lesson is we have all been given natural talent and we need to maximise it. We have all been blessed with a uniqueness – we should sell it. We have all been given a life – we should live it.