Formula 1 Events

Since the age of seven, Tyler Dueck has dreamed of becoming a Formula 1 race car driver.

That dream, improbably, is looking more and more like a distinct possibility for the Abbotsford native. The 21-year-old has landed a ride with an Italian racing team for the Formula Renault series, the first step of the ladder system that leads to F1, the planet’s top open-wheel racing circuit. Dueck’s ambitious to-do list calls for him to be competing against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen within five years.

But as Dueck readies himself to compete on the Formula Renault circuit in the coming months, he can’t help but think back to his formative days racing karts in the parking lot at Tradex in Abbotsford. Dueck’s interest in racing had been piqued by making trips to watch the Daytona 500 and the Vancouver Molson Indy with his father Doug. But on many Saturdays, Doug Dueck’s land development business took up most of his time, so in the morning, he’d drop off young Tyler and his kart at the track before heading to the office. While all the other drivers had adults helping them tweak their kart’s set-up, 10-year-old Tyler had to do all his own mechanical work.

“All these other kids were coming in with driving coaches and mechanics, and I was doing a lot of things wrong before I got them right,” Dueck recalled with a wry chuckle. “But I was one of those kids who was always playing with Lego and building things rather than playing tag outside or something like that, so it really fit my personality.

“I had to fix my own stuff, otherwise I wasn’t driving. That’s kind of the approach I’ve had my whole career, and so far it’s worked for me.”

Indeed, Dueck’s driving career has been built on a foundation of hard work. When he was just 12 years old, Dueck would take a month of his summer holidays and head to Los Angeles to work with an American kart engine builder. That time investment paid off, as the Abbotsford native grew into one of North America’s top kart drivers, winning a national title in 2003. In 2006, he earned a scholarship to race in the Jim Russell USA series, an open-wheel car circuit based in Sonoma, Calif.

Dueck’s big break came last year, when he out-performed English prodigy Scott Jenkins on the karting circuit. Jenkins had been referred to by Autosport Weekly as “the next Lewis Hamilton.”

“He came over and we raced, and I beat him several times, so that kind of raised people’s eyebrows,” Dueck said. “That gave me a lot of opportunities.”

In December, Dueck was offered a ride with the Intrepid Technology/Cram Competition team for the 2008 Formula Renault season. The Intrepid/Cram team is known as one of the top developmental outfits in the world, having sent drivers like Felipe Massa and Christian Fittipaldi on to the F1 ranks.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Dueck, who traveled to northern Italy last month to work with the team and test vehicles. “I had no idea that they wanted to push so hard not only to get me into Formula Renault, but also to put me all the way through to Formula 1.”

Dueck’s first Renault series race is scheduled for Apr. 11-13 in Italy, and he’ll go on to compete in front of crowds of 60,000 fans at famous tracks in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, France and Portugal.

“It’s a pretty fantastic opportunity,” said Doug Dueck, who plans to fly to Europe to watch a couple of Tyler’s races in May. “It’s a pretty special time for our whole family.”

Dueck’s Formula Renault ride is valued at about $800,000 Cdn, with the Intrepid/Cram team footing the bulk of the bill. Dueck has raised $200,000 of his $350,000 share, but he’s still looking for more sponsors. For more information, e-mail tyler@tylerdueck.com.