Birth of a legend (the Paddock Edition) – Ayrton Senna 1985 Portuguese GP print signed by the 1985 Lotus Estoril team engineers and mechanics

This atmospheric colour print entitled ‘Birth of a legend’ was produced in 2005 in collaboration with Classic Team Lotus as a 20th anniversary celebration of Ayrton Senna’s first F1 victory at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix. The print itself depicts Senna out of the cockpit of his Lotus Renault 97T/2 with elation as, safety harness flapping in the breeze, he salutes the crowd with his euphoric pit crew cheering in the background. Senna in appallingly wet conditions finished more than one lap ahead of his arch rival Nigel Mansell and over one minute ahead of second place Michele Alboreto in his Ferrari. To make this a very special and highly desirable print, all of the 1985 Lotus team engineers and mechanics who were at Estoril on that momentous occasion have signed the print, twelve team signatures in total. Only 200 of these wonderful ‘Paddock’ edition signed prints were made available and all have long since sold out. Along with the 200 ‘Paddock’ editions, 20 special publishers proofs were also signed and this is one of those rare editions. The signatories are as follows : Steve Hallam – Senna Race Engineer, Tim Densham – de Angelis Race Engineer, Bob Dance – Chief Mechanic, Chris Dinnage – Chassis 1 – Spare, Tony Fletcher – Chassis 1 – Spare, Sam Boyle – Chassis 1 – Spare, Paul Simpson – Chassis 2 Senna Race, Steve Tate – Chassis 2 Senna Race, Jonathan Woodward – Chassis 2 Senna Race, Nigel Stepney – Chassis 3 de Angelis Race, Paul Diggins – Chassis 3 de Angelis Race and Colin Watts – Chassis 3 de Angelis Race. The print has been signed and individually numbered by the artist, dimensions measure 60cm x 48cm. We also have the even rarer ‘legend’ edition of this print available which has been signed by all twenty team Lotus members from the Estoril victory.
Reference: PRI-BRTHPADLOT12-01