Alex Gassman MR2 Racing series on a wet Brands Hatch Circuit
Discussion
I have to post this:
http://vimeo.com/16198232
Very impressed with the driver in this video. Dicks his start, Gets spun in turn 2, drops down to 30th and last! He then proceeds to overtake 26 cars in 15 laps to finish 4th. Now thinking about entering this Championship next year!
Anyone have any ideas on costs?
http://vimeo.com/16198232
Very impressed with the driver in this video. Dicks his start, Gets spun in turn 2, drops down to 30th and last! He then proceeds to overtake 26 cars in 15 laps to finish 4th. Now thinking about entering this Championship next year!
Anyone have any ideas on costs?
I taught Alex to drive and he's very very good.
IIRC he came fifth in his first MR2 race.
How long did it take you to learn how to heel and toe properly? Alex took less than 1 lap of the old silverstone international circuit.
He learnt a bit too much from me though :-) Here's me going to back of the grid and missing third by less than a tenth of a second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B2EVJk_mEA
IIRC he came fifth in his first MR2 race.
How long did it take you to learn how to heel and toe properly? Alex took less than 1 lap of the old silverstone international circuit.
He learnt a bit too much from me though :-) Here's me going to back of the grid and missing third by less than a tenth of a second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B2EVJk_mEA
BenElliottRacing said:
I taught Alex to drive and he's very very good.
IIRC he came fifth in his first MR2 race.
How long did it take you to learn how to heel and toe properly? Alex took less than 1 lap of the old silverstone international circuit.
He learnt a bit too much from me though :-) Here's me going to back of the grid and missing third by less than a tenth of a second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B2EVJk_mEA
Wicked video ben, apart from the school boy error of course....... IIRC he came fifth in his first MR2 race.
How long did it take you to learn how to heel and toe properly? Alex took less than 1 lap of the old silverstone international circuit.
He learnt a bit too much from me though :-) Here's me going to back of the grid and missing third by less than a tenth of a second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B2EVJk_mEA
Edited by StuartMcKay on Thursday 4th November 16:53
georgetuk said:
How do we get this guy a leg up into something more sophisticated? Love MR2s but a long way from DTM/Nascar/F1.
I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
This is a massive problem in racing! There are far to many drivers racing at the higher levels of because of money rather than talent. The most high profile example being Chandok being replaced by Yamamoto at HRT)!I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
Tom Ingram has just won the junior Ginetta championship. He does not come from a privaledged background and has had to work hard to get every penny that he/his family could so that he can race! He is also one of the nicest lads you could ever meet which is a huge compliment to his Mum and Dad too keeping inmind the success he has had from such a young age. (I know plenty of fully sponsored/funded drivers with zero success that are the poler opporsite!)
Drakart posted about RDI supporting him in another thread and although the sums that we raise aren't huge, it gets him practice track time and he always kindly acknowledgesit in interviews and even has a Race Drivers Inc sticker on his car.
People like Tom and Alex should be the ones getting the breaks in to racing as their talent clearly shows that they deserve it! But, it is a business and understandably for a team money talks.
Edited by StuartMcKay on Thursday 4th November 17:27
georgetuk said:
How do we get this guy a leg up into something more sophisticated? Love MR2s but a long way from DTM/Nascar/F1.
I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
Hi, I am Alex's Dad, glad to see his video has got around a bit. And hi Ben, yes we had a great time with you in the early days driving the MR2 to tracks all over the country when Alex was still 15, him racing around all day with you and then driving it home again. I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
It is funny how many people I speak to who assume that since Alex's has 9 wins and won the MR2 Series this year that sponsors are waiting to give him a hand and help him move up into another level, unfortunately this just isn't true. It is a real hard slog just to continue racing where he is. Luckily he is also a really great lad, very laid back (even though I am the proud dad).
Believe it or not he put in the performance captured in the video above on Sunday, then went to college on Monday morning and typically didn't mention a word about his racing to his mates as he didn't want them to think he might be boasting!
We have been lucky with people recognising his talent and great personality and helping over the years. However he desperately needs to move up now as getting pole then sitting at the front from start to finish just isn't teaching him anything - plus we need to give the other guys and girls in the series a shot at the top! The race in the video above was the most fun he had all season going from 30th to 4th!
He is also someone who can jump in any car and put in very competitive lap times straight away, and has done so with a formula BMW, TVR Tuscan (thanks very much to Graham Walden on here), Subaru and Alpina B10 V8 amongst others.
I am approaching some large companies for sponsorship right now as he has a good track record and we have found the media provide good coverage and love to play with the Gassman surname in the headlines. As another option is RDI able to help in any way? I have looked on the website but can't see much on there.
Edited by AlpinaJez on Friday 5th November 13:29
AlpinaJez said:
georgetuk said:
How do we get this guy a leg up into something more sophisticated? Love MR2s but a long way from DTM/Nascar/F1.
I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
Hi, I am Alex's Dad, glad to see his video has got around a bit. And hi Ben, yes we had a great time with you in the early days driving the MR2 to tracks all over the country when Alex was still 15, him racing around all day with you and then driving it home again. I know its early days to say F1 but they all need help getting there.
It is funny how many people I speak to who assume that since Alex's has 9 wins and won the MR2 Series this year that sponsors are waiting to give him a hand and help him move up into another level, unfortunately this just isn't true. It is a real hard slog just to continue racing where he is. Luckily he is also a really great lad, very laid back (even though I am the proud dad) and we have been lucky with people recognising his talent and great personality and helping over the years. However he desperately needs to move up now as getting pole then sitting at the front from start to finish just isn't teaching him anything - plus we need to give the other guys and girls in the series a shot at the top! The race in the video above was the most fun he had all season going from 30th to 4th!
He is also someone who can jump in any car and put in very competitive lap times straight away, and has done so with a formula BMW, TVR Tuscan (thanks very much to Graham Walden on here), Subaru and Alpina B10 V8 amongst others.
I am approaching some gas companies for sponsorship right now as he has had a good bit of coverage and we have found the media love to play with the Gassman surname in the headlines, but it is a bit of a long shot. Is RDI able to help in any way? I have looked on the website but can't see much on there.
Sorry about the website. We are currently reconstructing the site but it has taken longer than expected.
If you'd like to private message me your phone number I will happily give you a call tomorrow for a chat and see if we can help.
Thanks
Stuart
Very entertaining video. IMO it shows 2 things - a great driver, but also a great team. You can see the guys at the back are partly slower due to being less committed, but a lot of them are diving cars that look like they;re handling terribly!
Of course, one of the key driver skills is being able to communicate with the team to get the setup right, and it looks like they got all of the ingredients right in this race.
Hope you manage to get the drive your after
SG
Of course, one of the key driver skills is being able to communicate with the team to get the setup right, and it looks like they got all of the ingredients right in this race.
Hope you manage to get the drive your after
SG
I have had the pleasure of racing against Alex on a few occasions in the MR2's.
One of the cleanest drivers I have come up against.
Earlier on the same day as the MR2 race, Alex raced a Hyundai in the Nippon Challenge.
We went side by side through Paddock, Druids and Graham Hill, just about room for a Rizla paper but no contact.
A true talent that deserves a leg up
One of the cleanest drivers I have come up against.
Earlier on the same day as the MR2 race, Alex raced a Hyundai in the Nippon Challenge.
We went side by side through Paddock, Druids and Graham Hill, just about room for a Rizla paper but no contact.
A true talent that deserves a leg up
This is the reason I want to get involved in motorsport, brilliant driving, and obviously a pretty good car setup too.
Slightly off topic but I'm assuming most people involved in the MR2 Racing series are amatuers with no training what-so-ever? I think my days gonna be spent looking at how I can get involved next year, either in this or Nippon Series.
Slightly off topic but I'm assuming most people involved in the MR2 Racing series are amatuers with no training what-so-ever? I think my days gonna be spent looking at how I can get involved next year, either in this or Nippon Series.
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