Who was Senna’s closest friend?
Take a look back at the friendship between Maurício Gugelmin and Ayrton Senna. Ayrton Senna had a great friend by his side every step of the way in his journey from Formula Ford to Formula 3 to Formula One: Mauricio Gugelmin, who turns 57 on April 20. Beside him was his best friend outside his family, Maurício Gugelmin. They met when they were both racing karts in Brazil. Gugelmin had a truck with enough room to carry Senna’s karts, too. They buddied up and never had a hard word.