FEATURE : DADS AND LADS
Danny Stanzl ( Elden Mk8 )
Kevin and Danny Stanzl Historic Formula Ford
Kevin : Age : 58 Lives : Woking
Danny : Age : 28 Lives : Woking
Kevin Stanzl says : “ I started racing in 1993 and he was only just born . I started bringing him racing when he was about five and used to get people in the paddock to look after him while I was racing . I was in Historic Formula Ford from the beginning . Dan came along racing and used to play with Mick Lyons and a few others . They just used to have a ball .
“ I stopped racing in 2003 when I kind of lost the passion , because it ’ s hard work and we do everything ourselves . I started racing again in 2013 and we bought his car that year . He was at university then doing an engineering degree and I thought at least do something practical . So we built the car together . We took it all apart and got it out of 2014 . That must have been his first race .
“ He ’ s got his own place now so he kind of does all his car himself now . A few years back there was a race at Silverstone on Father ’ s Day and we ended up with three fathers and sons racing together in this pack that were racing together .
“ When he started he just said that ‘ all I want to do is beat you . I don ’ t care what else happens ’. He ’ s an individual ! Look how much I ’ ve aged . There are times when something goes wrong and the spanners are flying that it does get a bit hectic !”
Danny Stanzl says : “ I enjoy it and it ’ s a technical challenge and it ’ s not just about going racing . It ’ s about building the race car . It ’ s about doing the engines and the gearboxes . Apart from the tyres , the Avon boys do the tyres , we do everything else on the two Historic Formula Fords . It ’ s spices everything up and its better than going down a golf course .
“ We get on really well . There are times
Kevin Stanzl ( Crossle 16F )
when we disagree but we ’ re not the worst ! There are father and son pairings that are terrible and then they ’ re still having a great time . We will always do a hobby like this and we ’ ve always done hobbies together . We do carp fishing together and we do go-karting together so we always do things together .
“ I learned a lot from him . But then he ’ s learned a lot from me as well , because modern engineering is different from what he does , but we have a lot of overlaps . I do things on a computer and on a CNC machine . But then also I ’ ve learned fabrication through the art of doing , which is fantastic . So we build our cars and we ’ re happy in the workshop as well . It ’ s a win-win .”
Bob Pearson ( Royale RP30 )
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