It is not often that a motoring enthusiast who took part, successfully, in one of CAR magazine’s Virtual Le Mans race becomes a race car driver. That is exactly what happened to Capetonian David Perel, although it was no easy path.
All the hard work paid off, and apart from previous wins earlier in his career, it was at Round 4 of the Blancpain Sprint Championship during the last weekend in August where he clinched a class win in a Ferrari 458 GT3 with Kessel Racing.
During a short visit back to his home town, we sat down with David to talk cars, racing and future plans.
When did your love and interest in racing started?
I started karting when I was 15, and raced until I was 23. I peaked at the Rotax Max World Karting Championship in sixth position. By that time I’d run out of money, as I was paying for most of it myself. So I switched focus to the business I created with my brother when we left school. However, the intention was always to get back to racing.
What happened that made you decide to come back?
Two years ago when I was watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I was thinking: “Why am I not there?”. At the time I’d saved up enough money to buy an entry level supercar. However, I realised that at the same time the funds would also be enough for one GT race. I just wanted to know what it would be like to wait in the pits with my helmet on and jump in the car for the race.
What did you do next?
I downloaded the list of all the entrants of that year’s Le Mans race and started phoning and emailing them. I kid you not, all of them said no, but the very last one said I should start looking at getting into the Porsche Cup, Ferrari Challenge or Lamborghini Super Trofeo to get some experience.
The result was that I did my first race in a Lamborghini in the Super Trofeo series and almost finished on the podium in 2014. I also beat all my teammates in the process. Later that year I was invited to return for the final race meeting, however, the brakes failed on me, I crashed and broke my leg. Long story short, I was then invited, although I still had to pay, to race in the same specification car in the Italian GT championship. Last year I achieved the highest number of wins, fastest laps and pole positions. The only reason we didn’t win the championship? Brake failure.
How did you switch to Kessel Racing in the Blancpain series?
At the end of 2015 we finished second in the championship. As I am still considered an amateur, I must still fund the racing myself leading into 2016. Then, through the help of my manager, Alan Macdonald, Kessel Racing Ferrari from the Blancpain GT Series approached me out of nowhere. Fortunately the initial two-day test in Italy was free, which is usually only the case for factory drivers.
On the first day I matched their professional driver, and on the second day I was two tenths of a second quicker. I came back to Cape Town, and three days later I got a call – they wanted to sign a 3-year deal with me! Fortunately the other two drivers in the team brought the largest chunk of the money.
What was the highlight of your first Blancpain victory?
Racing against the winners of the Spa 24-hour endurance race, in their BMW M6 GT3!
If you must analyse the Ferrari 458 GT3, what features stand out?
It has really good balance, is very pointy and the feedback through the steering wheel is phenomenal. Unlike the road cars, the race cars have hydraulic power steering. Interestingly, each gear you change at different points in the rev range. 1st, 2nd and 3rd you change at the first red light, 4th at the second, 5th at the third and 6th at the fourth red light. It’s my favorite GT3 car to drive.
This coming weekend and the first weekend of October will signal the final two race meetings in the 2106 Blancpain series. You can follow all the details of the series here, and keep up with David’s season via his website.
