Read and listen to an extract from the exclusive Alan Henry Tapes, in which Ayrton Senna talks to Alan Henry about his racing hero – a fellow Brazilian F1 driver

One of the foremost specialist writers of his or any other generation, Alan Henry was a regular contributor to Motor Sport and its one-time weekly sibling Motoring News, as well as a prolific author, editor of Autocourse and Formula 1 correspondent of The Guardian – to cite but a few of his credits.

His family recently contacted Motor Sport and asked whether we’d like to listen to some of the cassette tapes still stored in Alan’s old office, with a view to using some of the content and bringing his work to the attention of readers who might have missed him the first time around. We are proud so to do, to perpetuate the memory of a greatly valued colleague who was also wonderful company.

Pick up or download a copy of the new-look March 2019 issue of Motor Sport to read the full, six-page transcript of Alan Henry talking to Ayrton Senna and Denis Jenkinson at the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix. Or subscribe here.

ALAN HENRY: When you were on the way up, who was your hero – was it Emerson [Fittipaldi]?

AYRTON SENNA: It was Emerson.

ALAN HENRY: So you always wanted to be a Lotus driver rather than a Brabham driver or-

AYRTON SENNA: No, no, nothing related to the team. It was really the personality of the racing driver.

ALAN HENRY: Because when he won his first world championship you were

AYRTON SENNA: I was watching it on TV.

ALAN HENRY: And did he help you? Or did you learn anything from him?

AYRTON SENNA: I think he has helped every single racing driver that has come from Brazil after him. We had more credibility with the outside world and that helps everybody. That helped every driver that had come from Brazil. In that respect he has helped everyone, not just me…