‒ Damani Marcano wows the crowd at Donington with daring overtakes, incredible lap times and advancing race craft ‒
16 year old school boy racing driver, Damani Marcano, completed his final race in the VW Racing Cup 2015 this weekend at Donington – and boy did he finish on a high! With a top ten qualifying position and qualifying lap times that rivalled Lucas Orrock (second in championship) and Joe Fullbrook (2014 championship winner) the progression Marcano has made throughout the season was noted by driver’s and spectators alike.
In Race 1 Marcano, beginning in 10th position, was pushed out onto the grass in a bold manoeuvre and was pushed back to 25th place. Damani fought back and after aggressive overtake, after aggressive overtake, the young driver finished at a respectable 14th. Race 1 highlighted Marcano’s growing confidence and skill, moving past drivers with years more driving and racing experience than the 16 year old.
Video – overtaking highlights: youtube.com/watch?v=73ZuzqPBi-k
Team HARD racing driver Damani Marcano comments: “Wow! What a season! I can barely remember the 15yr old that signed with Team HARD earlier this year. My confidence has grown, I’m more competitive with every race and I love racing cars more than I could have imagined! Over-taking so many cars in Race 1 was such a buzz.”
Race 2 saw Damani’s competitive approach continue where he fought to hold his place against the more experienced driver’s around him. As championship leaders (Bobby Thompson, Robert Barable and David Sutton) fought their way through the pack Damani matched their speed and kept Sutton in his sights. Despite not being able to move past the more experienced Sutton, Damani completed the race in 13th position and was pleased with the skill of his driving.
Damani finished the VW Racing Cup season on a high with the timing sheets showing that he was within fraction of 1% (0.86%) of the fastest lap time and was matching Mason who won this year’s championship. These lap-times demonstrate how far Damani has come with recorded times in the top-8 and best sector-times in the top-7, matching and even being faster than this year’s championship contenders.
Marcano continues: “I’m so happy with my results from this race, to maintain pace with championship leaders, to have lap times in the top-8, I can’t wait to get back out there! I really learnt how to race in the VW Racing Cup and although I know I still have a lot to learn and experience to gain, I really feel like I’m a true competitor. My main priority now is to focus on sponsorship so that I can continue to race and maintain momentum in my development over the winter season.”
Supported over the weekend by Team HARD, The Clever Baggers and RiverGlide, Damani really put his racing skills to the test, competing against drivers, all over 18 and many with as much as 16yrs more experience than him. To train for such races Damani works with Pro-Sim to learn the course on their simulators, this helps immensely but cannot fully prepare Damani for the bravery needed to take the fastest corners at speed and with the g-forces that come with this!
Team HARD Principal Tony Gilham comments: “Watching Damani race this weekend confirms everything we first saw in Damani and why we signed him to the team. You can see that he is hungry for more and that even this performance isn’t enough for him. This is the mind-set of a future champion! His natural ability, his rate of development and race craft have all developed to such an extent over this season that I’m blown away! I cannot wait to see him back on the track.”
Damani is the youngest driver in the 2015 Volkswagen Racing Cup, a major UK racing series held as part of the British GT Championship race weekends. He began his first step into racing cars this year with the backing of Team HARD Racing, the largest team in the Volkswagen Racing Cup and a fan favourite in the British Touring Car Championships. Up against experienced adult drivers, Damani was the only competitor in the series who is too young to hold a road driving license.
Watch Damani’s story, “A Drive to Drive”, on YouTube; a video that supports his racing career crowd-funding (http://patreon.com/DKMRacing & http://gofundme.com/DKMRacing) and commercial sponsorship campaigns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TV_TbaCQuA
For more information, photography or to arrange an interview with Damani please do get in touch.
Ends
Editor’s Notes
Issued on behalf of Damani Marcano by In The Bag PR.
For further information please contact Pippa Gibb on 07970 441 046 or email pippa@inthebagpr.co.uk
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 260 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.
For more background on Damani, please see: damanimarcano.com/about
For more information on The Clever Baggers please see: www.thecleverbaggers.co.uk
You can follow Damani’s journey:
On Twitter (@DKMRacing)
On Facebook (www.facebook.com/DKMRacing)
On YouTube (www.youtube.com/DKMRacingTV)
2015, Featured, Motorsport, Team-HARD, VW Racing Cup, Winter 2015-2016
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