Well maybe not so new, but not introduced either….
Four new boys have joined TBR in the last month or so and its time I mentioned them… so in no particular order please welcome…
Darryl Sutherland, 38 – hailing from the US of A – Darryl has a long history in online racing and actually made the final 32 of Sony’s GT Academy in the US!
Preferring GT cars above open wheeler’s and prototypes, I met Darryl during one of my early morning race sessions – when I say met, I tended to see the back of his car mostly – but sharing a love for the Merc he decided that if he had to join a team, it may as well be TBR…. Having completed an iELMS race earlier this season with Nik Hedberg, Darryl will be competing in the forthcoming Suzuka 12hr alongside The King of Ping and myself.
Diogo Pereirinha, 22 from Portugal. Our first ever Iberian racer, who we are pretty confident doesn’t follow in the stereotype of most iRacing Iberians – that said, perhaps an Iberian TBR driver could prove to be the perfect weapon? Either way, Diogo has been on iRacing for just over a year and has already proven himself fast and reliable in the races he has done while he has been a trial member, despite the fact he doesn’t even own a single GT3 car! (I voted to kick him out but Joris and Rickard said we should give him a chance….. ) Diogo’s first team event will be the Suzuka 12hr this weekend with a Frenchman and a Waffle maker….
Next up is 17yr old Dutchman Antoine Blankers – predominantly a Prototype wheeler (we’ll forgive him that) Antoine has shown excellent pace in his favoured Audi R18 racking up 10 wins this season so far and an excellent 4th place in the Chevrolet DP at the Sebring 12hr. Antoine’s debut in TBR colours will be when he teams up our very own Swedish Proto driver, Niklas Hedberg this weekend for iRacing’s iELMS race at Road America.
Finally, we have Nathan Amess, 17 from the UK. Originally joining the team as a Prototype driver, IRL go-kart racer Nathan has recently been seen kicking virtual ass way above his status in the GT classes. Racing IRL has clearly given Nathan the tools he needs to show some serious speed in the simulated world with a second place in iELMS a couple of weeks ago at Monza paired with old hand Joris Thielen. He has also racked up some excellent podium finishes since the switch to TBR (along with a few glorious wrecks – typical TBR style). As well as being handy on track, Nathan has an excellent eye for images, so expect to see plenty of amazing TBR car photo’s in our amazing articles written by our amazing reporter. AMAZING!
Welcome along to all four of you – Personally, I’m super happy with how quickly you’ve all settled in and gelled with the rest of the team, although it makes me feel really old that the youngsters are actually younger than my youngest daughter! (too many “young” words…) PhilsOldMan