A number a years ago, Callas Rennsport gained a new client named Daniel Espinosa. He’s in his mid-50’s and absolutely loves everything mechanical, especially mechanical things that run on petrol. He had such a huge desire to go racing, and wanted to accomplish too much too quickly. I had to hold him back. It’s tough when a new blossoming driver can afford a much faster and higher horsepower car, which would impress everyone including themselves, but that isn’t the best thing to learn in. I tell every new driver, get yourself the slowest car your ego can handle.
Knowing our substantial racing history, Daniel bothered me for a number of years to go racing. I told him that I had retired from racing and campaigning racecars, and that we were not in a position to support a full-fledged racing program.
Racing is a sport that requires severe commitment and funding. While most people are not equipped, either due to health, family commitments or financial constraints, they are not in a position to handle the extreme pressure.
One day, Daniel came to me and stated that he wanted me to have full control of every decision, what car to buy, what race Series to run the car in and basically every decision that would be made. Having said this, I finally accepted.
The first decision was to decide which platform to get. Believe it or not, Porsche was not our only choice. I was thinking that the slower the car, the better for DE (Daniel Espinosa) to learn how to drive. We call this momentum driving. I knew that he would be faster in a 991 (911) Cup car, but that would hinder his learning.
I decided that the Mid-Engine Cayman based factory racecar would be the best tool to train a new driver, so we chose the 2020 982CS MR. The club sport is the factory racecar from Porsche, ready to run, with slicks and all! We then chose to skip the first couple of levels, such as the “Track Day” car, even the next which was the Club Sport model. We chose to go with the Manthey Racecar. This came equipped with the Air jack system, fire suppression system components, a real fuel cell with a bladder not to mention the lightweight Carbon and new Hemp body panels and MR wheels.
The brakes are upgraded to a dual master cylinder system with special product Performance Friction brake calipers.
Every time I receive a new built racecar from the Porsche factory, I go though it with a fine-toothed comb. I removed all the underbody panels and wheelhouse liners. Removed the driver’s seat and floor panels. Then I fastidiously went through every fastener on the car.