1983 Ayrton Senna da Silva race used gloves signed

The following gloves are simply exceptional...

Ayrton Senna da Silva race gloves used during his first F1 McLaren test in October 1983  at Silverstone. The gloves show extensive signs of use and wear as they have also been used during his 1983 successful F3 season.    Expensive...

The left gloves is signed in black marker and dated. Both insides are marked : Da Silva McLaren Test 83"

On October 25, 1983, Ayrton Senna drove a McLaren race car for the first time – it was the same team with which he would win three world titles, years later. Two days after becoming the British F3 champion, the Brazilian driver was given the chance by the British team, along with his rival Martin Brundle, who was the runner-up in the competition. Stefan Bellof, a young talent from Germany, was the third driver invited to take part in the day of testing at Silverstone, England.

As soon as he climbed into the #7 McLaren usually driven by John Watson, Senna impressed Ron Dennis, the team principal. In just six laps, the Brazilian was able to post a time of 1min14s8, beating Watson’s quickest time during the qualifying sessions for the 1983 British GP, which was 1min15s609.

“So far it´s been very good. Ayrton is considerably quicker than we´ve been on these tires on previous time we have been to Silverstone. Hopefully we can give him another run later and he will go a little bit better”, said Ron Dennis in an interview to reporter Reginaldo Leme, at the pits.

And Senna kept going faster and faster, in order to lower his time. The Brazilian took over Niki Lauda’s McLaren, whose engine was tuned differently, and posted an even better time of 1min13s9. By the end of the day, Senna had been quicker than Brundle and Belloff.

“I felt very confident in the car and it was extremely easy to drive. The speeds here at Silverstone are huge, but I felt relatively at ease in the car. My results were amazing, even better than I expected. I’m just now starting to realize how to win an F1 race – it’s more up to the car than the driver. Depending on how fast and easy to drive the car is, you become one or two seconds quicker or slower. But, in general, I’m really happy and I think this test was wonderful”, said Senna, also in an interview to the TV Globo journalist.

A few days after driving the McLaren, Senna tested a Toleman, the team with which he started his successful F1 trajectory. His first test with an F1 race car had been with a Williams, in June.