When my career really kicked off was in 1981when I was 21. I moved to England to begin single-seater racing, it was a big step for me to leave my family and country behind but it was also a step worth taking. I won the RAC and Townsend-Thoreson Formula Ford 1600 Championships that year with the Van Diemen team. Despite this with the pressure I was under from my parents to take up a role in my family business I had my doubts  weather I would continue in motorsport racing and I returned to brazil. But then something brilliant happened I was given a sign , before leaving England I was offered to drive with a Formula Ford 2000 team for £10,000. I knew in my heart that this was something i had to do for myself  so much to my familys dismay I took the offer and  returned to live in England. If  I was going to do this for real I needed a name that would stand out, as 'Silva' is a very common Brazilian name and I had to have one that was different to others, one that people would remember and so I adopted my mother's maiden name 'Senna'. That year of I went on to win the 1982 British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships as 'Ayrton Senna'. In 1983 i realised things were getting serious when I not only drove with the British Formula Three Championship but won, it was the times when i was behind that made me fight harder. In November that year I met Teedy Yip, the man who made me. That season I celebrated with pride at the  Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix with Teddy's Toyota powered Theodore Racing Team.