Wessex Personifies Sportsmanship and Teamwork
As a kid growing up, my superhero wasn't found in a comic book. He could be seen on a grainy black and white TV screen on Saturday afternoon, racing the #43 stockcar around a banked oval track somewhere south of the 49th parallel. And every week he lived up to his legendary name, "King Richard", as he pulled the checkered sheet across the finishline behind the wheel of his Mopar powered Dodge.
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| Malcolm Karl, the mild-mannered founder and owner of the Wessex Racing Team lives and breathes racing. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
Well I haven't followed in King Richard's footsteps, however I recently spent time with several down-to-earth guys who have. In fact this dynamic duo spend plenty of time in the driver's seat, along with plenty of time under the hood and at the track. Malcolm Karl, the mild-mannered founder and owner of the Wessex Racing Team is a most interesting study. By day he is a successful 51 year-old property manager in downtown Vancouver, full of business acumen and savvy. However, on the weekends and just about every waking moment (and probably some fast asleep) away from work, Malcolm is a racing nut. He lives and breathes it, literally.
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| A $5000 investment, which paid for the racecar and trailer, gave the Wessex Racing Team their start. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
Malcolm's story begins six years ago when he was a novice racer, having graduated from the go-cart scene. For $5,000 (Canadian) he and teammates bought a used Nissan racecar, which they affectionately termed "The Rolling Roadblock." But for this modest investment, the team acquired a fully functional racecar and trailer. All that was needed come race-day was fuel, tires, teamwork, nerves of steel and the often elusive, Lady Luck.
Now, Malcolm will tell you right away that "wrenching" a car is not his forte. This is where teamwork becomes essential. Every role within the Wessex Racing Team is important. As Malcolm puts it, "no team member is more important than any other." By Malcolm's reasoning, the teammate responsible for tidying up the pit area is just as important as the mechanic, "because if the pit area is messy, it'll annoy me and if I'm annoyed it'll affect my driving."