One to one with race car driver Simon Tibbett

Atlanta, Georgia. Home to CNN, the Centennial Olympic park, and avid race car driver, Simon Tibbett. With 23 wins, 43 podium finishes and 1 championship title under his belt, Simon’s obsession with racing starts with an insurance appraisal and a few magazines.

Mikaniki went behind the scenes with the race car driver himself in an exclusive one to one. Enjoy!

It was all a dream…

Kindling the love for racing

It was pretty random. I had sort of always liked cars as I think many young kids do and my dad was into cars; he didn’t race or anything but we occasionally had car magazines around.

Anyway, he was an insurance appraiser and had to go look at a car at Road Atlanta, which is a circuit here in Georgia. He brought home some magazines for my brother and I. I read them; I read about Le Mans, and the rest was history. I knew what I wanted to do. I didn’t know how hard it was going to be, but I feel like right then and there I was somehow hooked to sports car racing.

Favourite racing car

I would have to say the BMW M4 GT4. It’s a very nice car to drive. It’s fast and easy to get up to speed quickly. It definitely gives you confidence right out of the box.

Most impactful race

The 2019 Dubai 24 Hours. It was my first time ever out of the United States, my first time in a GT4 car, and I had truly been a fan of the Dubai 24 Hours since it started and always dreamed of doing it.

We had a great team and driver lineup and managed to finish 2nd in GT4 on the final lap. I felt it was one of the most competitive races I’ve taken part in and worked very hard in my stints.

In the post-race room where we get ready for the podium it sort of hit me that I’m standing in Dubai, about to go on a podium, and that feeling was something I will never forget. It didn’t even seem real. It wasn’t a win but I think we started 14th or something in class. So for us it was an amazing finish.

Advice for up and coming racers

Keep all options open, don’t be egotistical as this sport has enough of those people, and don’t be afraid to get out there and hustle for business deals.

You need money to race and if you treat this as a business you may be able to go further. Always read, keep up with the markets, and having a degree to fall back on never hurts especially if it means you can have a lucrative career out of motorsport and race as a serious gentleman driver.

Some gentleman drivers out there would beat some “pro” drivers in all honesty. Don’t let that term scare you.

Beyond racing

Going vegan

I have not always been a vegan and have been now for about five years or so. I was quite overweight from being depressed as my racing aspirations seemed to fade.

I did all of the cooking at home and eventually stopped cooking meat because I was super paranoid about handling it and it grossed me out. So I started making vegetarian meals and before I knew it we were vegetarian.

The move to vegan has been harder as you really have to look at ingredients if you’re buying something that’s not raw. I find it entertaining to cook new meals using alternatives and I love finding cool vegan restaurants when we travel. 

The change was primarily due to me trying to build a healthier lifestyle and also the fact that I quit cooking meat. Eventually I started cycling a lot, eating better, and lost around 54 kilos. I realized I had to be fit and be able to fit in race cars if I wanted to keep chasing that.

Unique and interesting places to cycle?

No not really, I mainly just ride on mountain bike trails around my home. I’m lucky that I live near two nice trails and am an hour or so from some other great ones in the mountains.

I rarely ride on the road as I am scared of drivers not paying attention. However I did have a great day of riding on the road once when we were in upstate New York.

Funny stories

Sneezing and gum

I have indeed (sneezed while cycling/racing). Cycling’s fine because I’m just in a regular bike helmet but in the race car I am usually driving with my visor down and I wear glasses. So if I sneeze it not only fogs and wets up my glasses but also the visor. It’s not the most fun!

I’ll tell you another funny story. I chew gum a lot when driving and when I was in a stint in an endurance race I needed water.

So in this car we just have a long drink tube we grab and put in our mouth on a straight away. Well, as I was fumbling with that on a straight away my gum slipped out onto my glove, which then stuck to my balaclava, after which I put my hand back on the wheel from under my helmet as I was trying to drink and I brought strings of gum everywhere.

My first instinct was oh no I have to get it off this suede steering wheel. Then I realized my facial hair had gum in it. It was an absolute mess. When I got out of the car and took my helmet off you can imagine the funny sight.

Luckily nothing was left in the car and I was able to scrape most of it off before I got back in the car.

A not so funny story

One last not so funny but kind of funny story I will tell and I haven’t really posted this widely.

In the Barcelona 24 Hours last summer I was in the BMW M4 GT4. The car has air conditioning albeit not like a road car but it is some cooler air. Well, I adjusted the vent but accidentally closed it.

So I assumed the A/C just quit working and called in to say that. It was extremely hot at that point of the year and as my stint continued I got weak and dehydrated (the water by this point was not drinkable as it was super hot).

I had to be helped getting out and eventually ended up in medical with an IV for fluids. I wasn’t allowed back in the car by the medical team until morning. Lesson learned I guess.

We still finished 2nd in GT4. It was really embarrassing though.

You can keep track of Simon’s progress on his website.

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