When the new Nürburgring Grand
Prix circuit opened in May 1984, the inaugural race was a celebrity
affair arranged by Mercedes, who had launched their 190 2.3-16 saloon
just months before. It was meant as a light-hearted jape to generate
publicity for the new car and track, but not everyone saw it that way...
Mercedes provided 20 identical near road-spec 190s for the race, and
gathered together a strong field of Formula One drivers past, present
and future to provide the thrills. Nine of them - Sir Jack Brabham (1959,
1960 and 1966), Phil Hill (1961), John Surtees (1964), Denny Hulme (1967),
Niki Lauda (1975 and 1977), Alan Jones (1980) and Keke Rosberg (1982)
- were former world champions, while another - Stirling Moss - could arguably claim to be the greatest of them all.
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Of the remainder - Carlos Reutemann, John Watson, Klaus
Ludwig, Manfred Schute, Jacques Laffite, Udo Shcutz, Hans Hermann, Allo
de Angelis, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna - All had exemplary records
in International racing.
For hell-raisers like Hunst and Rosberg, the
race was a chance to have fun, while Moss, Surtees and Hermann had barely
raced for decades. But for the young Senna, a virtual unknown who had
made his F1 debut just two months before, this was an opportunity to
prove himself by beating F1's established stars.
And win he did, fending off the attentions of Lauda, Reutermann and
Rosberg. In The Hard Edge of Genius by Christopher Hilton, John Watson remembers:
'Ayrton took it very, very seriously.
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[His] attitude was that he had
to win it. That day was cold and wet and he did a bloody good job.'
The race was also Senna's first meeting - and first confrontation -
with his arch rival Alain Prost, who recalled in an interview with Nigel
Roebuck in 1998: 'I was coming from Geneva to Frankfurt on a scheduled
flight, and Ayrton was due to land half an hour before, so Gerd Kremer
of Mercedes asked me if I would bring him to the track. On the way we
chatted, and he was very pleasant. Then we got to the track, and practised
the cars. I was on pole with Ayrton second - After that he didn't talk
to me any more! It seemed funny at the time. Then in the race, I took
the lead - and he pushed me off the track after half a lap. So that
was a good start...' After the race, an elated Senna said of his victory: 'Now I know I can do it.'
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