Well, the green accent in my brand is inspired by my helmet design. It might not say much, but racing plays a big part in my life, my personality, and even my business mentality. I could only afford my first driver at a very late age. I was 21 when I first raced a go-kart. But my history with motorsports started when I was 3 years old.
My first memory ever is watching Nelson Piquet win the 1981 F1 championship. I was barely out of my diapers, and the addiction for racing was immediate.
I was lucky enough to have a karting champ in my extended family. My father’s brother-in-law in the 80s (and all the way across the 90s) was an amazing driver. I watched over 100 of his races growing up. He also took me to my first formula race. It was the Brazilian Formula Ford Championship in Brazil, and Barrichello was there racing his Arisco-sponsored car.
Not being able to buy a competitive kart, I started very early racing video games. I had to load four floppy disks to play Stunts on my 286 PC, imagining huge pixels as racing cars.
The adrenaline I felt with speed made me set a goal: I would race competitively one day. As soon as I started making money, I began saving to hit the track. That happened in an amateur championship in Brasília using rental go-karts in 1999. Against all odds and “professional-amateurs,” I came second behind Rodrigo Rechden, who became my first rival in racing and an esteemed social media friend ever since.
In the next few years, I had the best experiences with motorsports. Through a common friend, I was introduced to Nelson Piquet Jr. He had just signed to be a test driver for Renault in the 2007 F1 Championship. Magic! Not only did I make my dream of watching F1 from the paddock come true, but I was also able to stand where only team members could. If I wasn’t the ultimate fan of motorsports then, I was very close to it. The "racing bit" was missing though.
After my first track days, I realized I had a natural talent for the tracks, so I started taking it even more seriously. I knew I wouldn’t make a career out of it. I knew I wouldn’t have any backing to make a living from this. So I focused on the next best thing: the masters and endurance karting.
Within a few years of practicing and competing in small championships, amateur, and rental kart competitions, I was extremely lucky to land a job in Dubai at an agency group that had many enthusiasts and sponsored an endurance team.
Y&R Dojomoto was a winning team. They had just been champions in 2006 of the 24h hours of Dubai. So I was invited for a tryout. They were practicing for the first race of the season (the championship consisted of 3 races during the year). It was heartbreaking when I was left out of the first race for not being ready. But as a team player, I decided to show up for the race and manage radio and pit windows.That dedication paid off.
On race 2, there I was! Part of the team which became the center of my life in Dubai. Every decision I made during those years was to ensure I could be part of this team. And after a lot of hard work, we won the 2007 and were runner-ups in the 2008 and 2009 championships (this last one, a heartbreak disqualification for not racing 75% of the drivers across the year — one of our drivers needed to travel for a TV commercial shooting — understandably a priority for the sponsoring company).
Unfortunately, motorsports is an extremely expensive hobby. Returning to Brazil in 2010 posed a challenge to keep the passion running. It didn’t take me long to find a great replacement: sim racing!
What was supposed to be a consolation prize after years of trackside rush became my therapist. To the point where I realized I was having so much fun at it that it fulfilled my desire for racing.
And the real-life experience gave me an edge.
I was winning very fast and age was not a limitation at all. Every other month I was upgrading my simulator. To the point where house hunting now has a criterion:
“Does it fit my rig?”