No driver has ever won the Monaco Grand Prix as many
times as Ayrton Senna did, even 18 years now since his untimely demise. But one
of his most famous drives in the headline event came when he narrowly missed
taking the checkered flag in the car you see here. This is the Toleman-Hart
TG184 that Senna drove in the Monte Carlo race for the first time in 1984. And
it was a controversial race, to say the least.
Beset by heavy rain, the young Brazilian rookie was
closing in fast on Alain Prost, shaving three seconds off the Frenchman’s lead
each lap. It was a precipitous start to what would become a legendary rivalry.
But with only 31 out of 76 laps completed, race director Jacky Ickx (himself a
former F1 driver) called the race early, with Prost still in the lead.
Prost slowed down in celebrating before the finish
line, letting Senna by in the belief that he had won. But the results had
already been tabulated, and Prost was awarded the win. Both Senna and Prost
would go on to win the race several times each – the Frenchman an impressive
four times in all, Senna a record six.
Even if the race had been allowed to continue, young
Ayrton may not have made it to the finish on the heavily damaged suspension.
Regardless of the outcome, the car’s long since been restored to its former
glory, and is now up for grabs – and not for the first time, either. But this time, it’s going up for auction in
Monaco where its place in history was cemented 34 years prior, and where
Bonhams will sell it off to the highest bidder this coming May 11.
