About Me

Hello to all!!!

I am finally back with my website, now with a new identity, even if the concept will be the same as my original WordPress blog/website where it all began some years ago – Wanderings of a Motor Racing Historian. Whatever he dedicates himself to, a historian is always wandering through pieces of the past – documents, books, magazines, photos, videos, and even interviewing persons. It's a fascinating work and, since Motorsport and History were my childhood passions, I found a way to join both. 

My name is Guilherme Ribeiro, a 34-years old Portuguese man born and living in Porto. I have always loved cars from my earliest memories, and I have dim reminiscences of seeing a white and red Footwork with my father on TV. Being born in 1989, it means that at least I was already watching Formula 1 by 1993, the last year where the team used that beautiful livery. Nonetheless, the first season I really remember to see almost entirely was 1994. Thus I have great recollections of the early days of Schumacher's era, his duel against Damon Hill and how it all ended (which made me dislike everybody who recurs to dirty tactics to achieve his purposes), but also the dark side, namely the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. I remember Senna's crash until today, I saw it live, but it didn't diminish my passion. As I grew up, I remember watching F1 races and simulating them with my little toy cars (there were no video games yet). I was also an avid reader of countless themes, from astronomy to geography, biology to history, etc.… Some of these interests accompanied me while I grew up, and I remain a keen reader, my favourite genre being historical romances.

My passion for motor racing grew a lot in my teen years, and history was always intertwined. I bought my first racing books about the past, and the internet came soon after. Woowww, suddenly a 13-years old teen found so much information in so many places that he had no place to start by!!! It was a tremendous emotion, mainly when I discovered Atlas Nostalgia Forum. This was THE catalyst for my future works. I had fourteen, and, suddenly, I was a member of one of the biggest and best communities in motor racing – there were no social media back then. TNF's material and information was something I never expected to achieve, and it sparked my interest in becoming a motor racing historian and writer. Interestingly I always hated writing…

I grew up and followed my ideas haphazardly as a typical teenager. Next, I went to college, applying for a degree in Microbiology. As I told you before, sciences were an old passion, so when I had to choose between Sciences and Humanities, the weight in the balance was the probability of getting a job, so Sciences won by miles. I started my degree, selecting Biochemistry instead of Microbiology when I had to decide on the third grade and, at the same time, I wrote my first motoring-related texts. Nevertheless, the studies were challenging, and I rarely had spare time to do better things. Even that, under an alias, I published my first works at TNF and 8W. Then I applied for the Master's Degree in Applied Microbiology and had even less time to dedicate to my dearest hobby.

However, I was increasingly tired and amidst a massive vocational crisis. Even if I enjoyed sciences since I was young, my greatest love was history and, as soon as the years passed on, I found it more and more prominent. Also, the enormous personal pressure of a career in scientific investigation took a heavy toll on me, so I needed some time to reflect. While doing my Master thesis, I decided my career in sciences would end when I delivered it and had the final presentation, and I would switch to history. I really thank my parents for their enormous support during my whole life because a second degree is a substantial financial burden, but they never gave up on me, and I am far happier now. My original idea was to start an academic career in history and pursue my motoring investigations as a hobby, but everything turned otherwise. When I applied to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, I had very high expectations that weren't entirely fulfilled. Then it surged a chance to do the final degree project with a racing-related theme. I had a high final classification, so I pursued the same line of research for the Master thesis in Contemporary History.

Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions forced me to halt the project. In between, I tried to explore new options for my professional career. I am now doing further studies in journalism, a decision I took because it widens the range of jobs I may apply for and help improve myself as a writer and even work in the motoring field. It doesn't mean the previous research will be shelved forever, I am also working on it. Let's see where these new options lead me.

Therefore this website is the culmination of years of work in this area as an amateur, mainly behind the screen and among my books and magazines. I don't come from a family with a significant interest in motorsport to take me to the races and rallies since I was a child, so my passion grew from TV and wandering through books and old magazines and journals. It is also highly significant for me because I had some personal issues when I got literally exhausted during my stint in sciences and even in history, as I committed the usual mistake… I didn't wait to recover from a severe burnout before continuing my career, forcing me to stop later. My hobby was something that helped me turn around and start again. So here I am, a racing passionate, cat lover, extremely avid reader and writer and someone who enjoys the company of his friends too.

But this work isn't only for me, but for you. History is made for the readers, and I hope you enjoy it. I leave you with my stories, some of them you know well, others you haven't heard about. Hope you enjoy it.

Best Regards

Guilherme Ribeiro

Rudi Caracciola, my hero from the past (painting by Gerald Freeman)