The legendary McLaren Senna is up for auction.

      The McLaren MP4/6 chassis on which Ayrton Senna won the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time in 1991 will be offered at auction. It will be organized by RM Sotheby’s and held in December in Dubai.

      On March 24, 1991, rain clouds hung over São Paulo and the race was run in difficult, changeable conditions. One of Senna’s main rivals was Nigel Mansell — Senna had started from pole — but on lap 59 the gearbox on the Briton’s Williams failed.

      However, Senna’s McLaren was also beginning to suffer gearbox problems: third and fifth gears stopped engaging, so on the closing laps even slow corners had to be taken in sixth gear, causing the Honda V12 to nearly stall several times. Riccardo Patrese, Mansell’s teammate running in second, rapidly closed on Senna but could not pass, since the transmission on his Williams was also not working well.

      In the end the great Brazilian driver crossed the finish line first, 2.991 seconds ahead of Patrese — his long-held dream had come true: he had won his home Grand Prix! But Senna was almost exhausted and could not get out of the cockpit without assistance. He would later call this victory the most important achievement of his life…

      After the season that chassis was returned to McLaren’s base, where it was kept for almost three decades before entering a private collection. Now its current owner has decided to sell the car, and a well-known auction house is handling the sale.

      RM Sotheby’s specialists have set the estimate at $12–15 million; the auction will take place from December 8 to 11.