Shanghai GP Pics

I think its great that you are sharing your passion for motorsports with young talent. I got started really late in racing at the age of 16 and I just turned 22. I have had to give up my goal of any type of open wheel racing and look at a future in sports cars because most of my buddies that are my age have already gone pro in are a series below it. I just wish dad had me in a kart at a young age. I think I would actually be more competitive had I had the funds to remain in a seat from age 16 to now. I have a friend who started when he was 15 and didnt do any karting and comes from a very well off family and he was constantly getting seat time in multiple series and he has ended up a very competitive driver. I think its great that you are sharing what you have achieved with young talent. Wouldnt it be great to see him get to formula 1 and know that you were a part of that?

Oh ya by the way, the formula BMW series is a great series to get noticed in. Here in the US it is doing great and it a very high profile series.

 

, OpenWhlRcr ... I think many of us are thinking the same thing, we just haven't said it

Why because it is human nature to brag, and questioning it just baits and feeds the bragger ... in the end I have just been enjoying the pictures, and chuckled to myself (see my previous post) at the need to brag about it.

I think the guy who raced in the Formula Renault had the better experience. Imagine racing on the same track, same weekend of a F1 meet!@!!. While meeting the people is great, I'd rather share THEIR experience ... admittedly at a lower level, but you are still sharing it. But it really must have been a great weekend for all that were there live.

Pete

 

Mark Webber started at 14. Jacques Villeneuve at 17. Takuma Sato at 19!

Starting late doesn't prevent you from making a career of open-wheel racing. You just have to learn everything in half the time, start winning in half the time, and progress in the half the time. You have to impress and start finding sponsors very quickly. Generally you need to have moved on from karting by the age of 21 or so into real race cars. So yes, it's quite a task, and only complete and utter dedication and determination will enable you to make a success of it.

 

Thanks for clearing that one up ... You werent refering to Prince Bira (=grandpa) by any chance were you - though come to think of it he raced in the 30s. I am not sure I know any other racing Thai drivers...

 

Thanks for sharing, Mr. theera.

I apologize for the inquisitive nature of youth!

As mentioned, the famous personalities of the Scuderia Ferrari are just people, after all. You have noted that access to them has become difficult, and so those allowed to be as close as your photos indicate seem beyond reach to many.

I walked past david Coulthard after a race once, and did not bother him for an autograph, as he was attacking a plate of hot food in a way that let me know he was hungry! So he was human, after all.

The Ferrari crew was very friendly and helpful in getting both RB and JT to sign my race program! They taped over my tobacco logos, in case I made TV..........

 

Interesting ... and I'm thinking along those lines.

Pete

 

you know I think I may be right ...

"B. Bira" (Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh) (T)
15 Jul 1914 - 23 Dec 1985

A member of the Royal Thai family, Birabongse came to England in 1927 to study at Eton and Cambridge. He started racing in 1935 with a Riley and a MG Magnette and showed such promise that his cousin and supporter Prince Chula Chakrabongse bought him a ERA for his 21st birthday. Entered under the pseudonym "B. Bira" for Chula's "White Mouse Stable", Birabongse became one of the top names in the Voiturette class in 1935-1936, with a record including three victories. In 1937, the team unsuccessfully tried to rebuilt Seaman's old Delage with a limited budget. As a result car preparation suffered and "Bira" won just one race. For 1938 and 1939 "Bira" raced a ex works ERA-C and once again proved to be victorious as he raced mostly in Britain, the car being no match against the latest Italian Voiturettes. "Bira" also raced in some GP races but his origin made him unsuitable for a works drive by the top teams. After the war "Bira" continued racing Maseratis and Simca-Gordinis. He raced Maseratis and Maserati-OSCAs for Enrico Platé from 1949 onwards. He also raced for Gordini and Connaught teams and as a privateer Maserati driver before retiering in 1955. His Formula 1 record includes 19 championship starts and 8 points. Extremly short sighted and always racing with glasses or special built goggles, "Bira" was considered to be a good driver if not among the very fastest. He was also an accompished sculptor and his art works can be seen on the base of a fountain at the Silverstone track.

 

Theera, thank you for being understand. BigTex, I wish you didnt bring in the youth part because many of you were thinking the same I just had the balls to stay commited and find out. Still I think we all have had fun with this topic and thread and I look forward to chatting more with all of you. Theera, once again, thank you for everything.

 

Ah, grasshopper....some things are unknowable..........

The Ferrari world is full of such mystery........LOL!

And the Internet is full of the real, and the false. In this case we are dealing with someone VERY real.........so be polite!

 

Oh and Admiral Thrawn. I wanted to make a comment about what you said in regards to the age of the drivers. They started racing cars at those ages. They were in karts before that age. I started in cars and only cars at age 16 and didnt have the funds to compete a full season every season. I am not complaining, I am just saying I wish I would have started with a karting background. I know do karting a lot to keep sharp and be competitive but I do think my future, if any, is in sports cars. Maybe DTM. Either way I would love to drive for Ferrari someday. Wait I think I mean drive in a Ferrari. Unless they decide to do a factory effort in something other than F1. Cause we all know im not getting a seat there (laughing).

 

Nope. Mark Webber starting karting at age 14. He started racing cars at age 19. His major sponsor at the time was Yellow Pages, and he drove for the Yellow Pages Formula Ford team.

Takuma Sato started karting at age 19, having raced pushbikes for many years beforehand. He did karting for less than 2 years before winning a fully paid Formula Ford drive in Japan, only to turn it down and move to Europe to race Formula Ford there (presumably sponsored by Honda).

I'm curious as to why you started in cars and not karts. Wouldn't karting have been the obvious choice from both the point of view of learning the fundamentals of racing, as well as its cost-effectiveness?
What types of cars did you race?

 

The post above by OpenWhlRcr got me thinking about the age trend nowadays ...

I mean we think of F1 with so many young drivers today - average age around 26 as compared to F1 30 years back where the average age must have been around 30 or so and in the 1950s it could have been more.

I mean todays 26 year old will have on average about 15-20 years of racing experience beginning with karting. Michael Schumacher for instance at 35 has 31 years (!) of racing experience.

The guys in the 50s didnt have much of chance to get started till they were in their very late teens or early 20s because of lack of stepping stone formulae then (there was F2 but that was pretty much it). So a racer in his thirties in 1950s would be equal in race experience to a racer in his twenties nowadays.

Just musing

 

I actually started off in cars first because I did a skip barber 3 day racing course. Then was encouraged to join the advance class for 2 days and then was given a great deal to run the regional series. I noticed you are in Australia so I dont know how familiar you are with the skip barber program or ladder series as they put it. They actually do a pretty good job of bringing you up the racing ladder. Problem is it still takes money. I just never had the money to do a full season in either that or formula mazda. Just a batch of races or one off races. I wish I would have done what you said. Just started off in karts and it probably wouldnt have been so hard. Most people dont realize though is that karting can be just as expensive, especially at the really competitive level. I just felt that I would jump ahead and just get lots of car experience. That wasnt very smart. So now I am working backwards. I do more karting than car stuff and compete in the occasional race. My plan at this point is to stay focused with a really competitive arrive and drive formula series and do some karting at the same time. Especially if I do well in the Formula Russell series cause a lot of the ALMS teams are at Sears Point ( or Infineon) so there is a chance to get noticed. Scott Speed got some good exposure from that series and its very local for me. I just have to find some local sponsors and stay commited. The problem is that I have been on my own pretty much sense 16. So I have to work full time to pay for everything like car, insurance, rent, food, etc. So its hard to find the time or the money. I dont really have any dreams of going pro anymore. I would just like to compete in one televised series before I die.

 

Oh I forgot to mention. That is amazing to learn that they got their start that late. Especially Sato. I have WAY more respect for him now. I always thought of him as very talented. More than what most people thought, but to hear that at age 19 he got started. That is just amazing. Thank you very much for the info.

 

The Cooper 500's (I think Formula Three?) was a great stepping stone series in the 50's and how Stirling Moss started.

We all seem to be forgetting club racing where most start, racing their family car, etc. While this is not the preferred (modern) method for getting into single seater racing, many people got into motor racing by racing a roofed car first.

Niki Lauda for one started racing a relatives Mini.

I started racing in a MGB. Why? because it was the first available vehicle and I, while I had looked at Karts earlier, never had the funds for even something that cheap. That is one of the reasons why most start racing in their very late teens ... ie. they have been working for a few years and starting to make enough money to play.

Pete

 

Excellent point there Pete! I agree

Can you give some details about your racing career? What all types of racing did you take part in?

 

Er, very amature ... and did not get to single seaters as I had hoped ... before I gave up.

Over 9 years I raced a MGB (classic racing), an Alfa Sud (ended up modified to heck, also in classic car racing, but they introduced a modified class) and then a club car that I won a championship with. The club car was a great little car and had fully adjustable suspension everywhere (but a beam axle rear) and rose jointed, etc.

I then gave up the game and got married, had kids, etc. ...

If I had my time again, I'd hopefully do the gokart route OR start in Formula Vee ...

Pete

 

Thanks for the pics Theera, please post more pics if you have it.

Here is a biography article about Theera's grandfather- Prince Bira GP driving records.
http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-birpri.html

 

very nice pics.. theera... thank U


regards from latin america

 

Here is some information from Sato's website: