Michael “The Baron” Vergers is a Professional Racing Driver, Driver Coach and Driving Standards Advisor Official. In a career spanning over 40 years, has competed in many international championships in a huge variety of competition vehicles. From humble beginnings in 2-Stroke Go-Karts to becoming regional champion in Spain and moving on to being Formula Ford UK Champion, Radical Enduro Champion, SCSA Ascar Champion, MES LMP2 Le Man Prototype Champion, a Nurburgring Production Car Lap Record Holder…and Dutch Hillclimb Champion* Michael has raced against and beaten the best drivers of his generation including a number of future Formula One drivers including David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher. He is also the owner of MV Automoto vapour blasting business in Manilva, Spain (Costa Del Sol) that can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/MVAutomoto

#dontliftoff

Keywords

don't lift off, motorsport, vapor blasting, James Hunt, Spain, racing career, team dynamics, multilingual, personal anecdotes, weather comparisons, career transitions, motorsport, racing, cultural exchange, Formula 4, Senna, karting, skid control, early experiences, sponsorship, driver development, racing, motorsport, financial struggles, race strategies, emotional impact, sponsorship, radical cars, lap records, Nürburgring, Radical Racing, American Racing, WEC, GT Championships, Motorsport Stories, Racing Experiences, Track Days, Racing Safety, Racing History, Le Mans, mechanical skills, gyrocopter, adventure, racing stories, aviation, Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden family, personal experiences, racing history, GT2 Championship, Driving Standards, Racing Evolution, Coaching, British GT, Generational Differences, AI in Racing

Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:41 - Early years and living next door to James Hunt 00:06:39 - Karting 00:07:23 - Don't Lift! 00:09:32 - Vapour blasting and Matt Kelly 00:15:35 - Truth telling 00:18:21 - Team Managing 00:27:09 - Cultural exhanges in motorsport 00:29:13 - The beginnings 00:32:02 - Learning from the best 00:35:10 - First steps in Formula racing 00:39:08 - The impact of Senna's legacy 00:45:32 - Navigating the racing landscape 00:49:55 - The financial struggles of racing teams 00:52:42 - Controversial race strategies 00:56:41 - Comeback to Formula Ford 01:00:30 - Diversifying and the evolution of racing cars 01:02:52 - The affordability of motorsport 01:06:18 - An unexpected turn of events 01:10:56 - The Radical story 01:13:28 - Nürburgring Nordschleife production car lap record 01:22:47 - More Radical experiences and The 'Ring 01:24:52 - A bit of a whoopsie... 01:30:50 - Transistion to American racing 01:32:39 - Grabbing the microphone and telling it like it is... 01:40:06 - First race at Daytona 01:42:49 - Racing in the WEC and GT Championships in GT2 and GT3 01:44:12 - European Le Mans Series LMP2 and Le Mans 01:46:20 - A Le Mans story... 01:52:29 - Versatility out of the cockpit 02:00:37 - Goodwood Revival 02:01:58 - Ford Transit Supervan! 02:04:00 - Gyrocopter Channel hopping with Phil Bennett 02:07:53 - Learning how to fly a commercial jet in the basement... 02:13:45 - Radical SR9 02:16:08 - Insights into Saudi Arabia and cultural perspectives 02:22:48 - GT2 in Europe and up to date 02:27:56 - Racing into later years 02:32:04 - Driving Standards Advisor in British GT 02:33:51 - Imperial Mints at the ready... 02:36:55 - ...and finally *one of these is not true