,,In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” Abraham Maslow
The story continues with Gigi and Ioan, passionate about results…..
,,It all started one winter night when I was staying in the speleological refuge of the club in Hunedoara where I was active at the time. In front of the fireplace with a mug of mulled wine in hand, one of my colleagues proposed that we each tell what we would do in the future outside of caving. It was my turn and I told them that I wanted to be a racing driver since I was little, that I was planning to start a team to build a racing car in my garage, and race it. They all laughed and started joking about it. We often joked or made fun of each other on weekends when we went to the mountains. I promised them then that the moment I became champion I would call them all and give them a drink!
I remember how hard it was to convince my brother to do something else than we were doing up to that point (street cars). I also had to build my team to do this so I turned to my best friends as you do when you need help. One of them was my brother’s colleague, a mechanic who grew up with my brother in the same garage and the other my best friend, a baker by trade. It was complicated until we convinced everyone and they decided to do this. It’s not an easy job to take three people and tell them that they have to do something different than what they usually do, that everyone has their share of work and responsibility, that your life as a pilot is also in their hands and that they have to do it again and for free. But in the end I made it.
It was all happening 12 years ago, we managed to find the car and after many weeks and nights spent in the garage we managed to complete it. Initially, I started modestly, participating in local amateur races, testing, learning and setting up the car as both myself as a driver and my team progressed. Step by step, we turned our attention to the county and regional championship competitions, enjoying the results more and more, together with the passion for motorsport and the desire to overcome our limits.
The real test came with the first serious accident that happened right at a home stage at the Căprioara Deva Cup. It was a moment that forced us to rebuild not only the car, but also the spirit of the team. It was one of those moments when you have to make the decision of your life, something like all or nothing. We only had a month until the next stage. We decided to change the car and move to another class with much more powerful cars. It was a month in which we actually lived, worked and slept in the garage! And the change was auspicious because the results didn’t take long to come in and I didn’t really have any stages without podiums wherever I went. I had a new, more powerful and reliable car and my experience as a driver was growing day by day. The number of kilometers with the competition car make the difference in performance.
As a natural thing in my development as a pilot, I attended two piloting schools, one in Austria at the Nordring and another at the Vali Porcisteanu Piloting School in Romania, given the fact that we also wanted to participate in several stages of the national speed championship in the Coast. Three years followed in which, in addition to the county and regional championships, I participated in several stages of the national championship. I also tasted the cup of success there with a few firsts on the podium. I remember it was a constant battle with deadlines, with travel, tests, training and last but not least with budgets, all my money, energy and resources were directed towards racing.
With a lot of effort from the family, we managed to raise the necessary budget to participate in 2017 in the entire season of the national coast speed championship. It was a championship in which the car and my team behaved perfectly and I managed to drive without making major mistakes. One stage before the end of the championship, we won the title of National Champions in Class A1 in the National Coastal Speed Championship. It was not only a recognition of my abilities, but also a validation of the team’s abilities, efforts and sacrifices made to reach our goal.
Of course I didn’t forget what I promised years later to my fellow cavers whom I invited to the same caving refuge years and years later to celebrate.
Currently, our Hetton Racing team prepares racing cars that participate in the various disciplines of the Romanian motorsport. In our nursery we also have a pilot who has been participating for several years with notable results in the karting championships in our country. he is my brother’s son Just like in the beginning his karts are built in our garage. The team, logistics, budgets, training and everything necessary to participate in the races are tasks that we take care of the vast majority of the time. Thus, from building the first racing car in a modest garage, we managed to have a team and drivers representing us in national championships, and this story continues today through us and more recently through our children.
Motorsport is not only about speed, cars and results, but about people, dreams, united teams, passion, perseverance and dedication. I learned that every obstacle became an opportunity for growth, and every success strengthened the bonds between us.
There are many success stories in motorsport, this is just one of them, I’m sure each of us has one. But above all this is a story about the big dream that you don’t have to give up and that can come true so easily, you just have to try not to let it be just a dream!”
And I learned something else:
POWER IS NOTHING WITHOUT CONTROL
