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WONDERKID, BETWEEN THE TRACK AND THE WAVES
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WONDERKID, BETWEEN THE TRACK AND THE WAVES

May 2, 2020

 

He was born in Mozambique 14 years ago and has lived in Portugal for the last three years. Here, he can surf the waves and dedicate himself to his great love: karting. All this without neglecting his school work! Pedro Perino is a kid worth knowing!

By Ana Roque

 

 

LEMON Mag – How long have you been karting?
Pedro Perino [P.P.] – I’ve been competing for three years, but I started much earlier, when I was still living in Mozambique, in my spare time. But there are not many races or competitions there. It was only when I came to Portugal three years ago that I started to take my passion more seriously.

LEMON Mag – How did karting come into your life?
P.P. – When I was four years old, my father bought me a baby kart, one which didn’t go so fast so I could get used to it. He explained to me what the accelerator and the brake were, sent me to the track and saw right away that I was good at it.

LEMON Mag – Does anyone else in your family do this sport?
P.P. – My dad, but he started late, in his 30s. He used to race competitively and became national champion in Mozambique.

LEMON Mag – What do you most love about karting?
P.P. – It’s a really tough sport. It demands a lot from you physically and mentally. I think driving is really different to other sports. You have to fight for every 10th, 100th of a second, fight every lap and to help improve the car. Driving is tough, but that’s also why I love it.

LEMON Mag – Did you decide to start competing yourself?
P.P. – Yes. When I arrived to Portugal, I wanted to race and my father took me to a team in the north, the Cabo do Mundo, to try it out. I tried out their MiniMax [a type of engine and racing category for kids aged 11 to 13 years old], but I wasn’t used to it at the time. It went really fast for me. Then I decided I wanted to race here.

LEMON Mag – Is your father your main source of inspiration?
P.P. – Yeah. Him and Ayrton Senna.

LEMON Mag – Does your family support you in this passion of yours?
P.P. – Yeah, they all support me a lot.

LEMON Mag – Have you had to travel a lot with karting?
P.P. – I’ve never left Europe because the most important competitions are always here. But I’ve been to Italy, Germany and Spain. We’re always racing in those places.

LEMON Mag – Where did you like the most?
P.P. – I loved Germany. When I got there, I didn’t know the track and my team mate was the same guy I had competed against for the championship in Spain. Whoever can drive well in Spain is considered to be a really good driver. In the first trial we did, I was two 10ths of a second behind him. But in the second and third, I was faster than him. After that I was always one of the fastest. I started by being in the top 10, then the top 7, the top 5 and the top 3. During the race itself, we had a bit of luck too. But karting is like that… It can be a cruel sport because you can get involved in accidents that aren’t your own fault. But that’s the track I liked the most.

LEMON Mag – Have you had many accidents?
P.P. – I’ve rolled a kart in Portugal, in a race where I was in second place. Also at the Portugal Open, I was about to win the champion title when my engine broke down. In the world championship I was excluded from competition after three heats.

LEMON Mag – How did you feel at those times?
P.P. – Losing a race is horrible, it hurts a lot. And after a few races without any luck, you start to get really frustrated. But you just have to keep going.

LEMON Mag – Besides karting, do you do any other sports?
P.P. – I’ve tried loads of sports. Football, swimming, judo, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, surfing and karting. But now I’m focused on just two: karting and surfing.

LEMON Mag – Do you like surfing a lot?
P.P. – I like it a lot, but I don’t do it competitively. I take surfing seriously, but just do it for fun. It’s to relax, to keep fit and to work on my flexibility. It’s a very different sport from karting, which is really stressful, so it’s has turned out to be a good complement.

LEMON Mag – How did surfing come into your life?
P.P. – My father bought me a board when I was six, pushed me onto a wave and I’ve never let go since. In Maputo there were no waves, but every time I had a chance to surf, I didn’t look back, I spent the whole day in the water.

LEMON Mag – What are your favourite beaches to surf?
P.P. – Carcavelos is my beach. When there are waves, I love it there. But I also like Praia Grande and Praia Pequena, which are both in Sintra. I also like to go to Costa da Caparica, but only when there are waves.

LEMON Mag – How do you reconcile the two sports?
P.P. – I do karting competitively, so when I have to train, that is the priority. I usually do it on weekends, but when I have lots of races coming up, I also train during the week. Sometimes I also have to travel to other countries. Surfing is more for when I’m not in competition. I usually do karting on the weekends and leave the surfing for during the week.

LEMON Mag – Is it hard to coordinate all this with school?
P.P. – At my school, the teachers are very supportive. When I have to be away for a few days, as has happened several times, they email me all the material and I keep up. Some teachers don’t do that and, when I arrive and they are teaching a totally new subject, I ask them to give me all the material they gave to the other students and I catch up at home. I got really good grades last year.

LEMON Mag – What are your long-term plans?
P.P. – I want to continue karting next year, but in two years I want to jump into Formula 4, which will open doors for me to the world of motor sport, DTM, Formula E and Formula 1. Of course Formula 1 is my biggest dream, but I know it’s really hard to make it. Formula 4 is for young drivers who want to start a career in motor sports.

May 2, 2020
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