Words by Shayni Solanki
Part of the next generation of Black racing drivers, Ruben Stanislaus is racing towards success.
When people think of Black racing drivers they rightfully think of Lewis Hamilton, but what about the next generation of Black racing drivers?
Ruben Stanislaus is a 19-year-old black British racing driver coming out of his rookie season of the Praga Cup UK. Finishing second in his debut season is a feat he shares with his idol Lewis Hamilton, who he met during the filming of the ‘We Are England: Born to Race’ documentary on BBC. It was an encounter he describes as “unreal”.
The feature follows Stanislaus and teammate Lewis Appiagyei over eight months in their first year of Praga Cup. Stanislaus remembers how Hamilton “ told us to keep pushing and live our dreams”. Just your usual classic Lewis Hamilton motivation for young drivers. The 19-year-old from Kent had always wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, and behind the wheel he’s learnt a lot: “Being on the racing scene. You start to realise how realistic it is”.
It’s not easy being a racing driver, on or off track. There are a lot of barriers just trying to enter the sport. Motorsport is nothing like football as your talent isn’t enough to gain you an academy place. Young drivers have to fund everything themselves.
“I had to stop racing for about three or four years when I was 13 because it was just getting too expensive,” Stanislaus said, “We didn’t really have the budget to race, but we always managed to stretch and make it possible.”
You always hear racing drivers talking about how expensive the sport is. Well that’s because they’re paying thousands of pounds just on practising with a go-kart. Some karting lessons go up to £700, and Stanislaus told us that his parents would end up buying him engines for Christmas just to help where they could.
As young drivers rise through the ranks it often becomes less about the talent and more about finding sponsorship. Stanislaus says that “sponsorship is probably the hardest part of being a racing driver because half of what you do is on the track, the other half is what you do off the track.”
Motorheads over the years have watched some great talent go down the drain because of a lack of sponsorship and, after his amazing season, you’d think this young Brit would have sponsors lined up. You’d also think that times had changed since Lewis Hamilton came onto the scene.
Still, Ruben Stanislaus has spent his come up as one of the only kids of colour on track, in this day and age, “As you get older, you start to see there is no one else that looks like you and I realised that in ways that had its challenges, but also, I think encouraged me to be a better driver as well”.
Lucky for him though, he has his parents – the parents that would buy their kid a steering wheel for Christmas. Although they worked normal jobs, Stanislaus said they would help in any way they could. He also works as an instructor at Silverstone, and he used to sell shoes.
We’re lucky to witness the next generation of racing drivers making their way through the ranks. Ruben Stanislaus might end up being the Lewis Hamilton of GT racing. If the time comes (let’s pray it does), we can’t wait to see him in a Formula 1 car.
Quick Pitt Stop! Brad Pitt and Damson Idris’ New Film Is Bound to Be a Classic