Gilles Villeneuve

Gilles Villeneuve is another sporting hero of mine.  I took to him because our driving styles are similar.  We're both oversteer drivers and love hanging the tail of the car out when taking corners.  For me, the image of Gilles driving the no. 27 Ferrari to the ragged edge is always immortalized in my mind.  In honour of Gilles, I adopted 27 as my personal number.  I admire Gilles for: (1) his courage in driving to the limit of traction right on the razor edge (with the tail end hanging out nonetheless), (2) his deep sense of honour and integrity not to overtake his teammate Jody Schekter at the 1979 Italian Grand Prix and become World Champion himself that year, and (3) his battling tenacity, as exemplified by his stubborn determination to wrestle his 3-wheeled Ferrari back to the pits at the 1979 Dutch Grand Prix, even though he could have simply retired on the spot since it made no difference as the damaged car could not continue anyway.  I saluted the way he refused to give up and battled Rene Arnoux's Renault corner after corner for a mere 2nd place at the 1979 French Grand Prix.  He was always the fastest driver among his peers but was unlucky never to have become World Champion.  Unfortunately, he died during qualifying at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix when his car hit another slower car in front, flew up, hit the ground and sommersaulted on land.  Gilles was thrown onto a catch fence and died.  But he died doing what he loved best: taking the car to the maximum limit.  In his memory, I will name my second born son after him.  To me, he'll always be the greatest Canadian racing driver ever.  Period.     

Ayrton Senna da Silva

The late great Ayrton Senna da Silva is the sporting hero I admire most.  I came to know about him shortly after I became interested in motor racing in 1995.  A fellow car fan had casually remarked how much he hated Senna and gloated about Senna's death.  I became curious about who Senna was and why he was so loathed.  Later when I started to import Formula One VHS from Australia and watch them, I became impressed with the man - his driving skills and personality.  So I began importing more VHS and books about Senna.  The more I watched him drive, speak and behave on TV, the more I grew to idolize and admire the man.  He embodied the qualities I aspire to have: total professionalism, total commitment and total dedication.  Senna was so focused on winning races and the championship that he channelled all his will (physical, mental and emotional) towards achieving his objective.  One of the funniest quotes I read about Senna was: "If there was anyone who would sell his soul to the devil to win the championship, it was Senna."  His great rival and then teammate, Alain Prost, confronted him after they came very close to colliding at the 1988 Portugese Grand Prix and said: "I know how badly you want to win the championship.  But until today, I didn't realize you were prepared to gamble your life for it.  In that case, take it!  I renounce it!  My life and safety is more important to me than being World Champion.  Wow, I thought, such fierce determination to win at all costs and bravery to attempt overtaking manoeuvres in places where nobody else would even think about.  He became my role model and showed me the way to live.  I remember wearing the red Senna 'S' T-shirt to university exams and praying to Senna before entering the exam hall.  I painted the red Senna 'S' symbols on my red karting gloves. I even swore to Senna to name my first born son after him and consecrate the infant to his memory.  For me, Senna will always be the greatest racing driver ever.  Period.  The God of Racing.