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He's barely street legal
By Tom Berridge, Burnaby NOW reporter
A third Burnaby race car driver has moved into pit lane.
Following closely in the draft of Formula Toyota Atlantic drivers Michael Valiante of Lynx Racing and Sierra Sierra Racing's Marc De Vellis, 16-year-old Lorenzo Mandarino is the next crop of homegrown talent making it in the big league world of motorsports.
The Grade 10 Burnaby Central secondary student recently won a $20,000 U.S. scholarship for one full year of racing beginning in February of this year, following a recent victory at the Jim Russell Racing School graduate run-offs in Sonoma, Calif. in December.
Mandarino, who only turned street legal Dec. 6, won the grand run-off over 60 top competitors from continental North America just two days after his 16th birthday.
With the win, Mandarino will race all 17 rounds of the USAC Formula Russell Championship for free this year. The top driver of the Russell series will earn two free races in the 2004 FF2000 Zetec championship pro series.
The Grade 10 student is also currently testing with Team Autotecnica for a possible seat in the five-race 2003 Fran-Am winter series in Florida. The season culminates in St. Petersburg, Fla. Feb. 22 as a support race for the opening of the CART Champ Car championship series.
The Fran-Am 2000 racing series, which runs from May to October, is a stepping stone to the established Formula Renault series in Europe.
"I'm certain I'll do really well in this test because I have enough confidence in myself I'll be quick enough," said Mandarino.
"My dad got me in a go-kart and I just got better and better and better, and then I thought 'I want to make a career of this.'"
And one of North Burnaby's newest licensed drivers isn't idle in his boast.
Mandarino has won at every level of karting since he first got behind the wheel as an eight-year-old.
He has been a local and regional champion in each year of his development, including winner of the Pacific Northwest Gold Cup championship series in senior intercontinental A 100 cc and ICC shifter gearbox 125 cc karts.
At the tender age of 15, he entered the Stars of Tomorrow go-kart series and wrapped up the No. 1 driver's position, winning three times and finishing second in a fourth of six series races at Sears Point, Calif.
The win earned him a spot at the TRC (Techniques of Racing Course) in November that eventually led to the Jim Russell run-off two weeks later.
Mandarino grew up around fast vehicles. His father, Vince Mandarino, once owned a shop that sold and raced All-Karts.
But the older Mandarino was less enthusiastic about his then seven-year-old learning to race after the boy's numerous spin-outs at first.
"He was a natural after he figured out how to drive. He drove a lot of miles, a good distance I would say, across the city in a go-kart," Vince said.
But there was no stopping Vince's only son.
"When I first sat in it (an open-wheel race car), the first thing I thought was I felt like a race car driver on TV - like Michael Schumacher. That is my dream, and it felt so good," Mandarino added.
"The world stops pretty much. All I see is the apex. When I drive it all just comes to me. It's like my body does it. I don't look at what I have to do, I look at where the car is going. I've always been a quick study in most things."
But Mandarino's recent success has not been achieved purely on driving skills.
The Burnaby teen was also evaluated by Jim Russell judges on his cornering technique, sportsmanship and out-of-car demeanour during the five-day lapping sessions.
Mandarino says consistency and reliability on and off the track are keys to building a career in motorsports.
"Pretty much any driver can bang off a fast lap, but the best drivers are ones that can keep times consistently lap after lap," he said. "I just want to make sure I take every step properly so I don't make any mistakes, and my racing dream will come true."
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