Sandy Stuvik has only just become a teenager, but that minor fact does not stop him from having about nine years of racing-experience on his resume.
“My secret is to practice more than everyone else, so I spend most of my spare time on the racetrack or in the gym. This has meant that I have always been the youngest driver of my category” he says.
Early addiction
Since the age of four, when most classmates from the kindergarten had not even learned to master the bicycle, the part-Norwegian boy has been addicted to the smell of gasoline and burning tires – and practically been living on the local racing track on the home ground of Rayong.
“Sebastian, a preschool classmate of mine when I was 4, was going to the race-track to drive go-karts, and he asked me to tag along. I had so much fun at the track and just wanted to go back, and soon I was out there every Sunday” Sandy explains.
The adoration of the small four-wheeled vehicles quickly turned into a huge passion and soon he started to win first races, and by the age of seven he was ranked number ten at the national championship of Thailand. Ever since then there has not been a year without top ten results in the major championships, and that is a big deal in the motor-loving Southeast Asian region.
“Compared with Scandinavia, where most motorsports doesn’t get much attention, many of the races in Thailand is broadcasted live on television and the major competitions sometimes gathers an audience of up to 30.000 people” the future star ads.
Determination
Keeping the top spot demands hard work and a great deal of determination from Sandy, and these qualities are not typical characteristics for most teenagers, but the young driver is not tempted to skip some of the long hours of training in favour of computer games, movies or go out with the schoolmates.
“When I eventually decides to spend a day hanging out with schoolmates instead of being on the racetrack I really fell like I’m missing out of practice. I see them every day in school anyway and I have so much fun when I drive. Besides I have lots of friends from all over the world in the racing environment” Sandy says.
This attitude will probably come in handy since he has decided to upgrade the level and the speed limits of his racing. The tiny kart is now replaced with a much larger car – a BMW Junior Formula racing car to be precise – with a much larger engine. The amount of speed of the Formula cars does not scare Sandy.
“Actually most of the injuries I have ever had has been outside the racing track, for instance I was hurting my finger while playing basketball a while ago. The cars drive fast but there is also a high level of security to day” he notes.
To Sandy the shift in vehicles is a natural development on his way to the motorsport-stars.
“My biggest ambition is to become a professional driver when I finish school and hopefully be good enough to participate – and off course win – the Formula 1 races” Sandy tells.
Father-son bonding
And there is plenty of support to that decision from Sandy’s own private home ground, the proud father Martin Stuvik is – along with his son’s mentor the former Danish and Thai kart champion Thomas Raldorf – Sandy’s biggest fan.
“I have spent almost as much time on the track as Sandy has and I always travel along with him, when he goes to international competitions. It is great way to bond and I’m pretty sure that I spend more time with my son than most fathers do. But even though I am proud that he is working so hard to reach his dream I must admit that I was biting my nails the first time I saw him drive 200 km/h in the BMW” Martin Stuvik says.
