Lakeshore-born race car driver competing at Daytona this weekend
![roman Roman De Angelis, 23-year-old Lakeshore local. (romandeangelis.com)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2023/1/26/roman-1-6248399-1721061366352.jpg)
He hails from the Municipality of Lakeshore but this week, 21-year-old Roman De Angelis is on holy ground for a race car driver — set to take to the iconic track of Daytona International Speedway this weekend in the Rolex 24.
He says he’s been racing since he was eight years old and, weeks away from turning 22, he still loves it just as much.
“It’s definitely a strange thing to call a job because it doesn’t really feel like it,” De Angelis says.
This will be his fifth time competing in the Rolex 24, an endurance race spanning an entire day.
(Source: romandeangelis.com)De Angelis is one of four drivers making up the team that will pilot #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.
He says the experience behind the wheel in a race like this is indescribable.
“It’s strange at the level of what’s going on how little you’re thinking about,” he says.
“There’s cars everywhere, there’s people everywhere, lights, fireworks, a Ferris wheel – and you mix that in with actually having to drive.”
De Angelis says beyond all the distractions – there’s a sense of calm.
(Source: romandeangelis.com)
(Source: romandeangelis.com)“There's a lot going on, but it's very quiet and calm,” he says. “It's just you – and you’re driving.”
This past weekend, De Angelis piloted the car to a seventh place finish in qualifying — but says, given the 24 hour span of the race, where you start doesn’t mean a whole lot.
“You’ll be shuffled from front to back multiple times throughout the race,” he says. “So lots of time to make up the six spots that we need.”
De Angelis still calls Lakeshore home, despite racing all over the world.
(Source: romandeangelis.com)
(Source: romandeangelis.com)He says he expects to see some family and friends at the race this weekend and those who can’t make it can stream it live on the International Motor Sports Association website.
The 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Looking to the future, De Angelis isn’t going to strictly say where he wants to steer his life — but knows racing will be a part of it.
“What I would dream to do is to continue to race at a high level, wherever it may be, for a long time and continue to have this as my as my job,” says De Angelis.
“I obviously love doing it.”
(Source: romandeangelis.com)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Celine Dion performs at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Beloved Canadian icon Celine Dion made her much-anticipated appearance during the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
She couldn't stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
Omaira Gill grew up counting down the days to each Olympic Games. She wasn’t especially sporty, so she ruled out the prospect of competing pretty early on. But she still harboured Olympic dreams – even just spectating would do.