16 year old Damani shows yet more natural ability at Rockingham
- Huge potential shown in opening laps before engine issues return to end his weekend -
16 year old Damani Marcano, delivered yet another mature and exceptional performance on and off track in his second race weekend of the Volkswagen Racing Cup at Rockingham. Issues with the car, also experienced at Oulton Park, continued preventing Damani from getting much in the way of practice before his first race. Even so, he immediately impressed in his first race at this very technical race-track making up 5 places against older more experienced drivers, before a dramatic loss of power brought his race weekend to an early end.
Damani commented: “It was another tough weekend but I won’t let it get to me. I am really happy with my performance and I know I can do even more once I get the track time I need. It was amazing to drive flat out through the legendary turn1 of Rockingham. You have to have a lot of guts to hold the throttle flat to the floor through there. Since I couldn’t risk the engine I couldn’t race on Sunday but I still enjoyed the day, watching everyone else’s racing. Something I learned from karting is that, when things outside my control affect my weekend, the best thing to do is learn from it if you can, move on and stay positive. I am confident that with Team HARD we will get there. I just can’t wait for the next round at Silverstone!”
To develop the skills needed to progress, in his novice year in car racing, GCSE student Damani needs as much track time as possible. The technical problems with Damani’s car, the only one to have such problems out of eight cars built and run by Team HARD, continue to be a mystery.
Team Principal, Tony Gilham commented: “We have 8 cars in the Volkswagen Racing Cup and none of the others are experiencing anything like this. To have this kind of repeat problem is very strange. Volkswagen engines are near bullet-proof, even under the huge stresses that racing places on them. We’ve looked at everything from Damani’s in-car video footage to diagnostics on the car and there’s nothing that explains the issue. This is very unusual. Our engineers are extremely experienced and have seen just about everything except this kind of problem before. Whatever it takes, we’re going to get to the bottom of it and give Damani every chance possible to show us what he can really do in the next rounds at Silverstone.”
On Damani’s performance, Team HARD Principal, Gilham, added: “Damani delivered some exceptional opening laps for someone with so little time on the track before his first race at Rockingham. He went out there without any solid runs on this track layout before and got 5 places in the first two laps. Before retiring he had some close racing as he battled on track and delivered a mature drive to avoid any incidents. His exceptional on-track performance and maturity under these circumstances, combined with his positive attitude off the track with all the challenges so far, are the hallmarks of a driver who has the complete package. I’ve said this about Damani from the start and he continues to deliver on that promise even at such a young age.”
Chris Turner, motorsport blogger at catmanf1.com, commented: “I spent much of Sunday at Rockingham watching the racing with Damani and I have to say he is a very impressive individual. He was so positive and enthusiastic, despite all the setbacks of the weekend. This is a rare virtue even among older more experienced drivers. He is a very grounded, mature and talented young man with a bright future!“
Having completed only part of round 4 on Saturday, Damani was unable to compete in rounds 5 and 6 held on the Sunday due to the yet to be understood issues with the car. With so few races completed, Damani is now at risk of not being able to compete at the only European event on the Volkswagen Racing Cup calendar – Spa Francorchamps in Belgium.
To race at Spa he needs to have raced 6 times in the UK to upgrade his racing license from his novice grade license to a Grade A. His and Team HARD’s challenge will now be to obtain the additional sponsor backing needed to get Damani out on track in another race-series within the next 5-6 weeks. This will be key for him to make the journey to Belgium and fulfil a life dream of racing at the iconic Spa Francorchamps.
Editor’s Notes
For further information and additional photography, please contact Pippa Gibb on 07970 441 046 or email pippa@inthebagpr.co.uk
Photo credit for ‘Featured Image': Jakob Ebrey, courtesy of the Volkswagen Racing Cup
Damani pilots a fully race prepared VW Golf GTI R Cup Car in the Volkswagen Racing Cup alongside regular proven and experienced racing drivers. Racing in the VW Cup will be Damani’s first step on a multi-year programme to eventually race in the British Touring Car Championships (BTCC).
VW Golf GTiR Cup Car: a 250 bhp race-prepared hatch-back capable of speeds of up to 150mph. These cars are based on a road car but stripped of all parts, not essential to racing, and fitted with a safety roll-cage meeting safety regulations of the VW Racing Cup. Additional differences are adjustable racing suspension and racing tyres that increase the amount of grip, and therefore cornering speeds, that the car is then capable of compared to a road car.
For more background on Damani, please see: damanimarcano.com/about
You can follow Damani’s journey:
On Twitter (@DKMRacing)
On Facebook (www.facebook.com/DKMRacing)
On YouTube (www.youtube.com/DKMRacingTV)
Watch Damani’s story: From karting to cars: 2 years told in 2 minutes:
2015, Team-HARD, VW Racing Cup
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