Rodolfo Avila
What were you doing when you were fifteen? Macanese driver Rodolfo Avila raced in the Macau Grand Prix 2002, making him the youngest driver ever to race in a street circuit racing event. Now returning to the competition for the 9th time, He talks to Samuel Lai about his passion for speed, his one-time near -death experience and why Macau is still his favorite circuit after all these years.
HK Magazine: Tell us about the most dangerous experience you had as a racing driver.
Rodolfo Avila: I was going at a speed of 200-230 kilometers an hour at the British Formula Three Championship, and I crashed straight into a wall. Imagine: at those speeds, a single-driver seat, an open-wheel monocoque, and I was going directly into a wall—everything could have hit my head. For once in my life, I thought I was going to die. I ended up flying off the tire barrier and the circuit. It only took three to four seconds for me to hit the wall, but somehow it seemed way longer. Things almost stopped at that moment, and I saw a flashback of my life in a big sequence.
Then suddenly, everything went back [to normal speed] really quickly and I just passed out. Everything switched off. I do not remember anything at all. And when I woke up at the hospital and opened my eyes, I could think of nothing except to say, “Thank God I’m alive.” The car was completely destroyed, broken into pieces [ and yet I was safe]—I think this shows how safe racing cars are.
HK: Do you have a favorite circuit, and if yes, why?
RA: I have driven in many other circuits in Europe, and nothing compares to the Guia Circuit in Macau. Driving in Macau is like driving a scooter in your apartment. It’s a 6.3 kilometer street circuit with lots of elevations, ups and downs. It has every type of corner, every kind of braking. You have to be one hundred per cent focused. You cannot make any mistakes. I grew up watching racing drivers compete in the Guia Circuit, and I have never missed a single Macau Grand Prix since I moved here. And it feels amazing to be a part of something that has fascinated me ever since I was a kid.
HK: Why do you love car-racing so much?
RA: It was a sort of love at first sight. The first time in a racing car –
I was nervous, spellbound by the speed, the adrenaline, and the high g-force. Since then I have been hooked and driving has been my life. Once I jump in the car, I don’t think about anything. I engage first gear and I start to hit the pit lane. All I focus on is about the next meter ahead—even the past meter is forgotten. I don’t worry about anything—family, friends, work. Nothing. It is just me and my machine.
This is what I like about racing, it makes me feel alive. And it reminds me that life can be fragile. I do have accidents, as I mentioned, but I move on and the race continues. This is my passion for speed—the passion to push myself over my boundaries to feel fear and danger. That is what keeps me going.
HK: How you do handle yourself at such high speeds?
RA: When you’re doing speeds like 250 kilometers per hour, and when you have three or four cars around you going at similar speeds, you have less than a split second just to make a decision. As racing drivers, we don’t really have a lot of time to think twice about our actions. Once you see an opportunity, you just go for it. You need to trust yourself as a driver. And you must be aware of the fact that once you make a decision, you have to make it work. You cannot start panicking—it’d be too late. Everything happens so quickly and you must go with your first instinct.