ALONSO PLANS LIFE- SIZE REPLICA TROPHY IF HE WINS
Winning the Indianapolis 500 would not only be a historic achievement for Spanish Formula One star Fernando Alonso; it also would be a mightily expensive one.
After discovering this year that the winner at the Brickyard does not get to take the famed Borg- Warner trophy home with them, Alonso told friends and associates that he would commission an exact replica for himself if he emerges victorious Sunday.
Alonso earns $ 36 million a year to race in F1. While the Borg- Warner cost $ 10,000 when it was created in 1935, it’s now worth about $ 3.5 million.
“I get to keep that right?” Alonso said at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in April, when he arrived to have his Indy 500 seat fitted and was shown the trophy, which was brought out from its home at the track museum for his inspection. “I want ( the big one),” he added, when told that the winner is given a smaller version, known as the Baby Borg, but that the original stays in Indianapolis.
When questioned this week about his plan, Alonso added, “I meant it. I have two of those from my F1 championships. They are replicas, but they are just like that. I am going to make me one ( if I win).”
The 35- year- old, two- time F1 world champion has taken the week off from his regular duties, swapping one legendary race ( the Monaco Grand Prix) for another at the Brickyard. His motivation in crossing the Atlantic is legacy, not money, and winning would be the ultimate vindication of his gamble. Whatever the financial cost. Alonso confirmed that he would stash his replica Borg- Warner in the motor sports museum that he founded and maintains just outside his hometown of Oviedo, in northwest Spain.
But re- creating the Borg- Warner, which weighs in at 110 pounds and stands nearly 65 inches, would be no easy task. An image of each winning driver’s face is etched into the silver, and two chunky bases have been added over the years to accommodate new champions for another 17 years, at least.
“Huge,” Alonso told USA TODAY Sports. “I am not that tall, but that trophy is really tall. It would be amazing to put the face there. I saw there are not that many ( drivers) there to have a beard, so it would be amazing to be there ... with a beard.”
Alonso qualified in fifth position for Sunday’s race and is seen as a legitimate contender as a result of his reputation as one of F1’ s greatest modern drivers, despite being a newcomer to oval tracks.
“I have done a lot of time in the simulator and watching race videos,” Alonso said. “I have a lack of experience for sure because this is my first time. But I have worked very hard for the past month, and I could not be better prepared than I am.”