Let’s all get behind Alex
TEN years ago the now-Formula One superstar Daniel Ricciardo was a little-known 19-year-old upstart from Down Under calmly making a name for himself in the cut-throat world of elite motorsport through European Formula 3 races. Exactly a decade on and Hobart teenager Alex Peroni was doing the same — until a fateful moment at the Italian Grand Prix nine weeks ago, when his car hit a sausage kerb at 220km per hour and went hurtling metres in the air ( pictured), somersaulting twice before landing upside down and then flipping right-side up.
That Peroni walked away was a miracle (thanks to the metal “halo” bars that have just recently become mandatory in such race cars). Now, however, it appears Alex might need another if his dream of walking in Ricciardo’s footsteps is to come true.
As his dedicated father Piero explains in today’s
TasWeekend magazine, before the accident Alex was within touching distance of a seat in the Formula 2 competition — the real audition for the big league. Now, the family is left having to find $160,000 to cover the non-insured component of the cost of the writtenoff car, while also raising the $1.5 million in corporate support needed for Alex to race in Europe again next season. The career, then, of one of Tasmania’s most promising stars on the world stage is at a crossroads. As Piero says bluntly: “If we can’t find the right funding for him next year I think Alex’s European career could well be over. If we had money right now we would be sitting at the table and about to sign a contract with a team. All the best seats in the best teams are being negotiated and signed right now. But because we don’t have the funds we have to wait.”
Peroni does enjoy solid support from a string of Tasmanian sponsors — Blundstone, the RACT, Richardson Devine Marine and the government (the last one being the reason the word “Tasmania” is emblazoned across his well-televised car). But more is needed. Currently, his family — a very normal, suburban one — is left having to make up any shortfalls. Somehow. Piero again: “We are running raffles and organising dinners. It’s just not sustainable. People need to know that our family is constantly on the precipice. We are constantly about to slip over.”
Now, there are many Tasmanians doing it far tougher than the Peroni family. And if you are not a motorsport fan it is difficult to get a full grasp on the magnitude of Alex’s story so far — not the least of which is the fact that he is competing in a sport where skill and talent is only one part of how you measure success. But as Tasmanians we should always rally behind our sons and daughters who are representing us well on the world stage.
To show your support, you could buy a ticket to the fundraiser dinner his family has organised for next week. You could bid for some of the memorabilia being auctioned. Or perhaps you could take a leaf of out Ricciardo’s book — and simply fire off a message to Alex, just as the Australian motorracing superstar who now boasts a $50 million annual contract recently did: “Thinking of you and sending big love.”
Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Chris Jones, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000