One more conquest was added to Ayrton Senna’s victorious career on Wednesday, March 5th: Unidos da Tijuca, which honored the Brazilian driver during Rio de Janeiro’s samba school parade, was crowned Carnival champion for the fourth time.

The tribute to Senna on the legendary Marquês de Sapucaí Sambadrome featured an F-1 car in its Front Commission (based on a real F-3 racecar) and on props that paid homage to the driver and to other characters tied to the world of auto racing.

The last school to hold a parade on the final day of Rio’s Carnival (on Tuesday early morning), Unidos da Tijuca got the audience on its feet and made an impeccable parade, in which the highlights were carnival-director Paulo Barros’ creative solutions for the “Acelera, Tijuca” (“Step on it, Tijuca!”) theme .

The judges’ grades were announced on Wednesday, March 5th, in Rio de Janeiro, and the school that honored Senna won by just one tenth of a point: 299.4 against Salgueiro’s 229.3, which placed second.

“It was an amazing parade, with an incredible energy. It was very emotional; my heart was beating out of my chest! The Brazilian people irradiate tenderness and affective connection. It’s very moving to see that this bond remains intact since 1994”, Viviane Senna said soon after the parade.

2014 Carnival final standings:
Unidos da Tijuca – 299,4
Salgueiro – 299,3
Portela – 299
União da Ilha – 298,4
Imperatriz – 297,6
Grande Rio – 297,2
Mangueira – 296,2
Beija-Flor – 296,4
Mocidade – 296
Vila Isabel – 295,9
São Clemente – 294,3
Império da Tijuca – 291,6