David Richert, race car driver and one of Niverville’s favourite sons, competed in a hectic three-race weekend in Monza, Italy, over the Canada Day weekend.
Richert arrived in Italy ready to race but Air Canada had other ideas. He was left without his luggage, which contained important racing equipment—and, rumour has it, Richert’s lucky socks.
However, Richert managed to scrounge around and borrow enough equipment from other teams to compete alongside 24 drivers and place 18th, 19th, and 18th throughout the three races. In the first race, Richert was just three-tenths of a second behind Italian driver Alessandro Perullo.
After this close result, Richert gave the crowd a show with two more exhilarating tight races, with Richert crossing the finish line one and a half seconds behind the car ahead in both races.
“Racing at Monza is always a thrilling experience as the speeds are so high,” Richert says. “It can be a challenge to follow closely, but it makes for some extremely fun racing.”
Adding to the excitement of the weekend and blistering heat, a sudden storm swept in after the second race and ripped apart race team tents and toppled multiple trees. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Super Lube Auto Centres joined Richert’s other corporate partners—Diabolica Wines, Casamigos, Silver Jeans Co., Loewen, Karma Property Management, and R.R. Dobel Insurance—in preparation for the Monza Grand Prix.
Richert is happy with his team’s progress so far this season. “We will keep pushing hard on the business side of the sport and hopefully we will be in a position to compete with the guys at the front soon,” he says. “I’ll never complain after any race weekend at Monza. I still consider it a privilege just to be racing at a place like this.”
