Exactly 20 years after the death of Ayrton Senna during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, the circuit held a memorial service open to the public, as part of a four-day tribute to mark the Brazilian legend. With Senna family members as well as current and former grand prix drivers in attendance, a moment of silence was held at exactly 14:17 CET, while thousands of fans looked on.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso said simply: “For a lot of us, he was our idol.”

Thursday’s events at the track began with a parade in honor of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, who died in a crash during qualifying the day before Senna’s passing. Many fans laid flowers at the statue of Senna (pictured) that was erected on the inside of the corner at which he crashed fatally on May 1, 1994.

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• Coming tomorrow: RACER editor David Malsher picks Ayrton Senna’s 10 greatest F1 races.

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