Barcelona, Thursday May 7, 2015 – For immediate release. Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer breathed new life into one of motorsport’s most enduring legends this evening when the great Ayrton Senna appeared as a stunning hologram at a star-studded launch in downtown Barcelona. The event, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Swiss brand’s partnership with the McLaren Formula 1 team, was held inside the ‘Teatre Principal’ – the oldest playhouse in Barcelona – and included appearances from double world champion and McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso, and Bianca Senna, Ayrton’s niece.
Endorsed by the Senna family for the occasion of the launch of Senna collection with TAG Heuer, the hologram of Ayrton Senna was a world premiere. It painstakingly recreated the Brazilian Legend in classic racing attire, dressed in overalls and with his helmet held beneath his arm. Using a sample of pre-existing audio, Ayrton glanced at his watch before addressing the audience:
“I just love racing. I just love the challenge of beating somebody else.”
“When you are under a lot of pressure, the objective is to be the one that can put together the combination of aggression and calculation that will get the best result. And, more than anything, you need a very clear mind to understand exactly when to be aggressive and when to be calculating.
“To win the championship, you need the combination of those elements.”
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Ayrton was then joined on-stage by Spanish hero Fernando Alonso, who spoke about his memories of growing up watching the Brazilian. Fernando also explained the feelings he experienced when, earlier this year, he achieved a childhood dream and drove Senna’s most iconic and successful car, the 1988 McLaren-Honda MP4/4, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Fernando said:
“I grew up watching Ayrton race – he was my idol. And I still vividly remember seeing those iconic red and white McLarens battling at the head of the field during the 1980s and ’90s – it’s one of my earliest memories of Formula 1, and it remains a formative experience for my own desire to race.
“To be able to sit inside one of Ayrton’s cars was a genuinely moving experience; to do it in the very chassis with which he won his first world championship – one of the most iconic and successful cars in F1 history – was simply incredible.
“Thank you TAG Heuer for making this unforgettable moment possible.”
Fernando’s drive in the MP4/4 was captured for a promotional film, and was shown to the audience during the event. The footage includes him battling teammate Jenson Button, who drove this year’s McLaren MP4-30, the car that reunites McLaren, Honda and TAG Heuer for the first time in 25 years.
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