Hamilton to race with Senna tribute helmet in Brazil - MotorSportsTalk

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that he will race with a revised helmet design for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix that pays tribute to Formula 1 icon Ayrton Senna.

Senna won three world championships through his F1 career and is widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history.

One of Senna’s most famous victory came on home soil in 1991, when he won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos despite being stuck in sixth gear.

Senna has been an inspiration for Hamilton throughout his career, with his third world title in 2016 being the most significant as he matched the Brazilian.

Hamilton has never won at Interlagos, but needs to do so if he is to realistically keep his hopes of a fourth world title in 2016 alive. Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg leads the standings by 19 points with two rounds remaining.

Hamilton took to Twitter on Thursday to present the design of his helmet for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which features yellow and green colors, the Brazilian flag and a graphic of the Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

My #BrazilGP helmet design. Inspired by my idol, Ayrton Senna and Brazil. I love it here, such a special place to race!! 🇧🇷🏁💪🏽 @BellRacingEU pic.twitter.com/o3IzwSby7e

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 10, 2016

Follow @LukeSmithF1

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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