Marko Hanželic
One would think that everyone would Formula 1 driver wanted to forget as soon as possible about the free practice, in which he was 13 seconds slower than everyone else. But an Israeli Chanoch Nissany is still proud of his famous performance, which he made in 2005 in Minardi's drove the car to Hungaroring.
Many are they make fun of from his time and say that Nissan he was never good enough to deserve a place in formula one. But most of them do not know and do not understand exceptional stories about his determination that even got him a chance to take that famous free practice.
That’s why we need to go back four years to the past when it is Nissan, then a successful businessman who was engaged in the sale of real estate, Hungarian GP visited as viewer. "I started when I was 38," explains the Israeli: "I was a businessman, I worked in an office and I remember sitting in one of the stands at the Hungaroring."
"I was watching a race and I told a friend that I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver. You should know that I've never sat in a go-kart before, let alone in a race car, but I said to myself, that's what I want to become," he remembers Nissan: “A friend replied to me: No problem. When we get home, you'll take a pill and everything will be fine. But it didn't give me peace of mind and I started building my career from scratch, so to speak. "
It is with its official success Nissan imel funding for putting it all together on the run. In addition, he managed to acquire a personal sponsor, namely an Israeli cosmetics company UPEX, which in the end really took him to Formula 1.
In 2002 he started in Hungarian Formula 2000 series and became runner-up. A year later, he won the title. In 2003, he began participating in international series such as World Series Lights, a year later he was already driving in Formulas 3000.
Although he did not turn the world upside down with his results, he was still well on his way to achieving his goal. And when he got the role of test driver at Jordan, was the world of Formula 1 one step closer. His debut in a Formula 1 race car took place in July in Silverston, where it was nine seconds slower than Nick Heidfeld. Maybe she crossed his better time as well engine failure, which forced him to end testing early that day.
"I lived 24 hours a day for this dream," says Nissan. "I ate, slept and dreamed of racing." The dream seemed to him much more achievable when, in July 2005, at the Hilton v Tel Aviv Minardi Paul Stoddart presented as official test driver - with a plan to allow him to perform in a few free practice sessions that season.
Because at the time the rules were for superlicense different than today, Nissany only had to drive in private tests enough milesthat he was able to participate in free training. And because the rules of testing were far from the current limits, those miles weren’t particularly hard to accumulate.
After two tests for Minardi it's winter before Nissan spent five full days still on tests in Misan, Mugello in Vallelunga, before the Italian team decided to allow him to play in Friday’s free practice at Hungary. In addition, it all happened exactly on his 42th birthday.
The news of Nissan’s free practice performance came as a flash spread throughout Israel. Local journalists and TV crews rushed to the Hungaroring to see the first Israeli behind the wheel of an F1 race car. He is one of the most enthusiastic reporters Michael Schumacher asked what he thought of Nissan’s performance in training. The confused German replied: 'I have to apologize. I have no idea who it is. "
Nissany performance he did not go unnoticed also because a lot of time was devoted to him by the official Formula 1 television team conservative approach and putting pressure on him, of course he couldn’t chase sensational times. But over time, he gained confidence.
It's seventeen minutes before the end Nissan in the fourth bend made a mistake and landed in the sand, which also marked the end of his F1 adventure. Once the mobile crane was already lifting his car, Nissany was still there sat in the cockpit. His day at F1 was over.
In the end, he achieved a time of 1: 34,319 minutes, which was about 13 seconds slower than the time achieved by the fastest in training at the time, Alexander Würz at McLarn. For comparison: Teammate at Minardi, Christian Albers, reached a time of 1: 27,540 minutes.
Looking back today, he says he’s not embarrassed that he wasn’t in the league Schumacher, Fernando Alonso ali Chemistry Raikkonen. Just to find himself on the track with them was the fulfillment of an unlikely, almost crazy dream. Nissan is aware that he drove much better in private tests than he did on Hungaroring could drive that day.
"You must not forget that 15 years have passed since then," he says, and adds “I am proud to have been at the Hungaroring at the time. There is no doubt about that. It was a great experience. My goal was clear - I wanted to officially become a Formula 1 driver and drive a Formula 1 race car at an official event. I did it."
“I’m just a little bit of a special story for normal people. And for every businessman and worker who has a goal or a dream. You must never tell yourself that something is not possible. I wanted to show everyone that you can do something even at 38 if you really want to. It's all in your head. "
Since then Chanoch Nissany he no longer competed in an official event under the auspices of Formula 1, but is for Minardi drove another four days on testing. His racing career also continued. On Hungary won some more championships, before hanging his helmet on a wedge a few years ago.
It has been helping in recent years son of Roy when paving into the highest class of motorsport. He played an important role in the recent deal that brought his son status Williams test driver. There are always sparks between father and son about the racing experience, but they both know that their opportunities for entry in Formula 1 are located at completely different ends of the spectrum.
"I realize there's a big difference between me and my dad in terms of racing," he says Roy nissany. “His career was unique, crazy and special. He started at his 38s, so his goals were different from mine today. Despite starting so late, he still managed to break into Formula 1 and bring the Israeli flag to the royal motorsport class. This is a huge achievement. "
