The 1984 Toleman-Hart TG184 - Ex-Ayrton Senna!

March 29, 2024 JOMA

This is the Ex-Ayrton Senna, ex-Stefan Johansson 1984 Toleman-Hart TG184 Formula 1 Racing Single-Seater - Chassis no. TG184-02

On Monaco Grand Prix race day in 1984, the local weather conditions were so appalling that it became obvious the event could not run its full distance of 76 laps without exceeding the FIA's strict two-hour duration limit. Driving his 1½-litre, 4-cylinder, 600bhp Toleman-Hart, Senna was chasing down race leader Alain Prost's more powerful McLaren-TAG Turbo MP4/2. The mercurial Brazilian newcomer was catching the established French superstar at the staggering rate of 3 seconds per lap.

Ayrton Senna, in this very Toleman-Hart, started the race in ninth place. He then navigated his way through the field to establish himself in second place, closing the gap behind Prost to barely 7 seconds – and closing at an accelerating rate. However, race director Jacky Ickx (the Belgian former Formula 1 driver) and Monaco Automobile Club secretary Michel Boeri controversially displayed both the red flag and the checkered flag simultaneously, bringing the race to what many considered a premature end after only 31 laps. Consequently, Prost claimed the win from newcomer Senna, with the margin of victory being 7.446 seconds.

In fact, when the red and checkered flags were both shown as the drivers reached the end of lap 32, Prost had slowed and hesitated just short of the finish line and Senna swept by, waving ecstatically, convinced that he had just won his first World Championship-qualifying Grand Prix, and at Monaco, the most glamorous venue of them all...

Nevertheless, as was customary in Formula 1, the race results would be declared based on the positions at the end of the last uninterrupted lap. Consequently, Prost was confirmed as the winner after 31 officially recognized laps, with Senna finishing second in the Toleman-Hart TG184 chassis '02.

During the closing stages of the Monaco race in 1976, Formula 1 World Champion Driver and BBC TV commentator James Hunt announced the true emergence of Ayrton Senna onto the Formula 1 scene. He declared on air: "I think we are witnessing the arrival of Ayrton Senna as a truly outstanding talent in Grand Prix racing...

The Toleman-Hart TG184, which Senna campaigned during the 1984 season, was designed by Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds. At the time of Ayrton's remarkable drive in Monaco, this particular chassis was still fresh from its debut in the preceding French GP at Dijon-Prenois, where Senna had been forced to retire due to turbocharger failure on the slimline car's 4-cylinder in-line Hart power unit. Highlighting his potential for future greatness, Senna's subsequent 1984 season in the Toleman-Hart saw him achieve third-place finishes in both that year's British and Portuguese Grands Prix, in addition to his maiden podium placing at Monaco.

Later in the 1984 Formula 1 season, chassis '02 served as the spare car for the Toleman team at Hockenheim, the Osterreichring, Zandvoort, and Monza. It was actually driven in the Italian Grand Prix by Senna's Swedish teammate, Stefan Johansson, adding to its entirely meritorious Grand Prix record by finishing fourth overall. It was headed only by winner Niki Lauda's McLaren-TAG Turbo MP4/2, Michele Alboreto's second-placed Ferrari 126C4, and Riccardo Patrese's Alfa Romeo 184T in third.