[PeteOlson]

Anyhow, I won a ride for 2008 via Bridgestone thanks to my championship win, and p.s., I bought the Pedro Diniz 'Red Bull' helmet not to pretend I had Red BUll sponsors but because it was $700 painted beautifully for only a $100 markup over the white unpainted Bieffe helmet, versus a $800 paint job, and it is a great helmet that has served me well over the years, kind of a 'good luck charm' by now.

I have always been a fan of Skip Barber, that is where I did the 3 day and 2 day advanced and my first few races in a Formula car....it was a great experience and the instructors were fantastic and totally cool, and I met many great people there. I would love to come out to LimeRock or Laguna again to see how much I have improved with regards to those tracks, but as I am close to buying my Van Diemen to run Pacific F2000 [which I will save a lot of money on by wrenching on it myself ;], I can't justify doing more 'arrive and drive' series.

And as for the 'Hans', the point of this entire thread, yes, I think it is a good thing, as I hurt myself very seriously last January testing Formula Renault in China, and yes, I did win in Formula Renault at the Shanghai F1 Circuit, Ari, it was one of the best days of my life, but unfortunately, I ran out of money, a common problem for us racers ; Point is, I think the Hans is reletively cheap insurance for your life, I'd rather be dead than handicapped and not be able to race again, I am looking to buy a Hans and that how I stumbled on the comments about me on this thread as I haven't been on it for a while....The day I crashed in Formula Renault when I was kicking some ass in the rain and having great loads of fun dancing the car around at 250kph was one of the funnest times I ever had...until I crashed and punched a suspension hole through the carbon fibre tub and could hardly feel the left side of my body for about 24 hours after, it was tingling and numb, and that was the only time I have ever been truly scared about my own mortality....I am getting a Hans and yes, I indeed have some common sense.

Anyhow, I wish you all the best, and give my thanks to the instructors at Skippy for giving me the skills to win in Renault and now, the Bridgestone F2000 Championship.

Best luck to you all,
Pete Olson