Dunlop Race-Used Karting Rear Wheel & Slick Tyre — Elf Masters Karting, Bercy, Paris, December 1993The Last Competitive Race of Ayrton Senna's LifeHand Signed by Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost in White Marker
Of all the pieces of motorsport memorabilia that exist in the world, few can lay claim to the extraordinary historical weight carried by this item. This Dunlop slick karting rear tyre, mounted on its original aluminium wheel, was raced by Ayrton Senna at the inaugural Elf Masters Karting event, held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy on 18–19 December 1993 — an occasion that would become, in the cruellest twist of fate, Ayrton Senna's final competitive race.
Five months later, he was gone.
The Signatures
Applied in white marker directly onto the rubber tyre surface, the piece bears Ayrton Senna's bold, flowing signature, accompanied by the year and the inscription "Bercy" — a precise, event-specific dedication that places this tyre unambiguously at one of the most emotionally charged moments in motorsport history.
Alongside it, equally in white marker, appears the unmistakable signature of Alain Prost — Senna's greatest rival, his most complex adversary, and the man who stood on the opposite side of one of sport's most legendary and passionate feuds. That both men signed the same piece makes this a document of reconciliation as much as of competition.
The Kart
The competitors raced identical arrive-and-drive specification karts on the indoor circuit constructed within the Bercy arena — compact, highly responsive machines fitted with Dunlop slick tyres, demanding the precise, aggressive, and deeply physical driving style that Senna himself described vividly after the event: "You have to drive sideways because go-karts are small, short-wheelbase and very quick to react. You are always sideways at some stage of the corner... In a kart, you have to be hard and aggressive, but also precise."
The Event & The Race
The Masters Karting was organised by former Formula 1 driver Philippe Streiff, with the goal of bringing together the best performers from all disciplines of motorsport — from go-karting to Formula 1 — and having them compete together in a spectacle for the fans. The stage was an indoor circuit in the Paris-Bercy Sports Palace.
Teams were formed with a Formula 1 driver and a karting rookie. Two races were held, and the second was the one that truly captured the public's imagination, since in the first race both Senna and Prost had difficulties with their karts.
In race 2, Andrea de Cesaris dominated much of the race, but always with Senna and Prost on his heels — the fight for second place between the former McLaren teammates intense for much of the event, with Senna coming out ahead after some great battles.
The battle saw Senna overtake Prost and challenge De Cesaris for the lead, before he was forced to retire with mechanical problems. Prost managed to pass De Cesaris and go on to win. For Ayrton Senna, it would be his last competitive karting race. Indeed, it would be his last competitive race of any kind. He would lose his life at Imola the following May.
The image of Senna and Prost — former enemies, reluctant friends — dicing wheel-to-wheel on a tiny indoor kart circuit in Paris that December evening, watched by a passionate crowd, remains one of the most poignant vignettes in all of sport.
A Note on Rarity
Signed Senna material from the Bercy event is extraordinarily scarce. This tyre is not merely signed — it is race-used, event-specific, dual-signed by both protagonists of the greatest rivalry in Formula One history, and connected to the final chapter of Senna's competitive life. There is simply no category of motorsport memorabilia more resonant or more rare.
An irreplaceable artefact. A piece of history. Estimate: Upon application.
