Watch Honda’s Spectacular Tribute to the World’s Greatest Racer

In 1989, Formula 1 racer Ayrton Senna set a new record around the Suzuka racetrack in Japan. Honda thought it was time to pay tribute to both the man and his run with a spectacular recreation of the record-setting lap using telemetry, sound, and light.

When in-car telemetry data began to infiltrate the top tier of motorsport in the mid-’80s, it was a revolution. Teams could pinpoint everything from corner speed to G forces down to the millisecond. Using data pulled from Senna’s 1989 run, along with audio of his McLaren F1 car, Honda set out to duplicate the lap in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.

With hundreds of networked speakers connected with lights and placed along the racing line, the automaker created the masterpiece above, “Sound of Honda,” a stunning tribute to Senna, who died in a crash in Imola, Italy in 1994.

But what’s truly captivating is the restraint. There’s no computer graphics or voice overs or historical footage. It’s just light and sound and the memories of one of the world’s greatest racers. Check out the spot above and the making-of video below. And if you speak Japanese, we’d love to get a translation of how it was pulled off.