Oct 17, 2005 3:23:14 PM
- Avantgarde
- Senior
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- Loc: City State
- Posts: 708, Gallery
- Registered on: Apr 6, 2005
- Reply to: LowPolarMoment
Re: Grand Prix of China
Oct 16, 2005
A dream come true for his dad
World champion Alonso mirrors his father's passion for racing
LONDON - THE Hollywood latin looks. The accolades and attention.
He has plenty of money, but Fernando Alonso once had to work as a mechanic for young drivers to help support his go-kart hobby. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Alonso makes it a double
Fernando Alonso, the 24-year-old Spaniard who became the sport's youngest champion in Brazil last month, has it all.
It has been a meteoric rise for a man who only six years ago introduced himself to Formula One by turning on the television.
'I think the first race I saw was in 1999 with Mika Hakkinen or Michael Schumacher,' he admitted. 'I was never certain that I could become a Formula One driver. Until a few years ago, I thought I would be a go-kart mechanic.'
But racing was always in his blood, because of his father Jose Luis Alonso.
As a boy in the tiny town of Oviedo, Jose dreamed of go-kart racing in the Spanish countryside. Unable to afford the equipment, he did the next best thing - he looked to his children.
When his first child Lorena turned eight, Jose, who worked as an explosives expert at local quarries and, at night, would work on his own go-kart in a shop behind the house, entered her into local competitions. It was a complete failure. She just was not interested.
So Jose turned to her three-year-old brother, Fernando, modifying the large pedals on the family go-kart to fit the boy's feet.
'At the beginning it was just a hobby. But when he was five or six years old, it was clear that he was outshining other children of his age,' Jose said.
Before his seventh birthday, the boy who would be world champion had already earned his first junior victory by winning the first event he entered. He then won the seven remaining races to take the title.
Because he also managed good marks at school, his mother had little objection to him travelling from circuit to circuit. For the next three years, Fernando won regional contests, beating older boys with sponsors.
'I have always been the youngest in every category. Perhaps because of that, it impresses me less than it should,' Fernando said, referring to his current title of youngest Formula One champion.
But as the karting races got bigger, and the distances to circuits increased, money became an issue.
'We could not afford to send Fernando into higher competitions,' said Jose. 'He was always aware of the effort made by the whole family - me going to all the races as a mechanic, his mother putting up with her son being away every weekend, and the money.
'The only way of carrying on was for someone to spot him as a future talent.'
In 1993, before he turned 12, Fernando was spotted by Genis Marco, the owner of Genikart, a company which imported motors.
He won the Spanish championship with them in 1994, and then began travelling throughout Europe, taking part in more competitive karting leagues.
Father and son had to make trips of over 2,000km in their old Peugeot 405 diesel.
'We used to leave on Thursday after school. While I was driving, Fernando was asleep in the back. When the races finished on Sunday, there was another 18- to 20-hour journey back to Oviedo so that Fernando could start school on Tuesday morning,' said Jose.
To offset the cost of the travels - despite extra help from IAME, a brand name in the sport - Alonso earned cash as a mechanic for younger drivers.
'It was useful to earn some money to help out,' he said on his website.
In 1996, Alonso became the World Junior Karting champion and then won the Spanish and Italian legs of the championship the following year.
After six wins and nine pole positions in 1999 in Formula Nissan, he received a chance to test a Formula One car.
On Dec 13, 2000, in the pouring rain at a Spanish circuit, Fernando took his test alongside six other potential drivers.
'At the end of the day, Alonso was by far the fastest,' said Cesare Florio, ex-sporting director for Lancia, Ferrari, Ligier, Prost and Minardi.
'You could see that he had everything - coolness, concentration, intelligence - gifts that, together with talent, go to make a champion.'
Florio had a 10-year contract drawn up on the spot, 'before word got around about Fernando and someone stole him from us'.
After a stint in Formula 3000, Fernando moved up to Formula One as a test driver and then full-time driver in 2003, winning his first race in Hungary with Renault at 22 years and 16 days, the youngest race winner in the sport.
After three third places and one second in 2004, 2005 has been his breakout year.
His life is hardly the same. Earlier this year, his family home was besieged by the media as his popularity soared.
To get away from it all, he purchased a home in sleepy Oxford, England, partly to be close to the Renault factory.
'It's impossible to live in Spain because the people recognise me too much, and they get crazy,' said Alonso, a big fan of soccer club Real Madrid.
When probed about his success, he always turns to what matters most, his family.
He said: 'My parents both worked, and I spent a good part of their wages on my karting. The only way to pay for their effort was to win races. Seeing my father's face after every win is the best reward.'
A dream come true for his dad
World champion Alonso mirrors his father's passion for racing
LONDON - THE Hollywood latin looks. The accolades and attention.
He has plenty of money, but Fernando Alonso once had to work as a mechanic for young drivers to help support his go-kart hobby. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Alonso makes it a double
Fernando Alonso, the 24-year-old Spaniard who became the sport's youngest champion in Brazil last month, has it all.
It has been a meteoric rise for a man who only six years ago introduced himself to Formula One by turning on the television.
'I think the first race I saw was in 1999 with Mika Hakkinen or Michael Schumacher,' he admitted. 'I was never certain that I could become a Formula One driver. Until a few years ago, I thought I would be a go-kart mechanic.'
But racing was always in his blood, because of his father Jose Luis Alonso.
As a boy in the tiny town of Oviedo, Jose dreamed of go-kart racing in the Spanish countryside. Unable to afford the equipment, he did the next best thing - he looked to his children.
When his first child Lorena turned eight, Jose, who worked as an explosives expert at local quarries and, at night, would work on his own go-kart in a shop behind the house, entered her into local competitions. It was a complete failure. She just was not interested.
So Jose turned to her three-year-old brother, Fernando, modifying the large pedals on the family go-kart to fit the boy's feet.
'At the beginning it was just a hobby. But when he was five or six years old, it was clear that he was outshining other children of his age,' Jose said.
Before his seventh birthday, the boy who would be world champion had already earned his first junior victory by winning the first event he entered. He then won the seven remaining races to take the title.
Because he also managed good marks at school, his mother had little objection to him travelling from circuit to circuit. For the next three years, Fernando won regional contests, beating older boys with sponsors.
'I have always been the youngest in every category. Perhaps because of that, it impresses me less than it should,' Fernando said, referring to his current title of youngest Formula One champion.
But as the karting races got bigger, and the distances to circuits increased, money became an issue.
'We could not afford to send Fernando into higher competitions,' said Jose. 'He was always aware of the effort made by the whole family - me going to all the races as a mechanic, his mother putting up with her son being away every weekend, and the money.
'The only way of carrying on was for someone to spot him as a future talent.'
In 1993, before he turned 12, Fernando was spotted by Genis Marco, the owner of Genikart, a company which imported motors.
He won the Spanish championship with them in 1994, and then began travelling throughout Europe, taking part in more competitive karting leagues.
Father and son had to make trips of over 2,000km in their old Peugeot 405 diesel.
'We used to leave on Thursday after school. While I was driving, Fernando was asleep in the back. When the races finished on Sunday, there was another 18- to 20-hour journey back to Oviedo so that Fernando could start school on Tuesday morning,' said Jose.
To offset the cost of the travels - despite extra help from IAME, a brand name in the sport - Alonso earned cash as a mechanic for younger drivers.
'It was useful to earn some money to help out,' he said on his website.
In 1996, Alonso became the World Junior Karting champion and then won the Spanish and Italian legs of the championship the following year.
After six wins and nine pole positions in 1999 in Formula Nissan, he received a chance to test a Formula One car.
On Dec 13, 2000, in the pouring rain at a Spanish circuit, Fernando took his test alongside six other potential drivers.
'At the end of the day, Alonso was by far the fastest,' said Cesare Florio, ex-sporting director for Lancia, Ferrari, Ligier, Prost and Minardi.
'You could see that he had everything - coolness, concentration, intelligence - gifts that, together with talent, go to make a champion.'
Florio had a 10-year contract drawn up on the spot, 'before word got around about Fernando and someone stole him from us'.
After a stint in Formula 3000, Fernando moved up to Formula One as a test driver and then full-time driver in 2003, winning his first race in Hungary with Renault at 22 years and 16 days, the youngest race winner in the sport.
After three third places and one second in 2004, 2005 has been his breakout year.
His life is hardly the same. Earlier this year, his family home was besieged by the media as his popularity soared.
To get away from it all, he purchased a home in sleepy Oxford, England, partly to be close to the Renault factory.
'It's impossible to live in Spain because the people recognise me too much, and they get crazy,' said Alonso, a big fan of soccer club Real Madrid.
When probed about his success, he always turns to what matters most, his family.
He said: 'My parents both worked, and I spent a good part of their wages on my karting. The only way to pay for their effort was to win races. Seeing my father's face after every win is the best reward.'
, but the Pat Symonds you showed in the photograph you attached to your next post is Flavio Briatore. 
