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The 2022 Formula 3 season might be done and dusted, but now it’s Ido Cohen’s turn to give us the lowdown on the people who have been the greatest influences on his motorsport career so far. For the Jenzer Motorsport driver, there were three people who clearly stood out, including a legendary Formula 1 icon.
HIS MUM AND DAD
“My dad’s always been with me since I was a little kid. Both he and my mum have been coming to my races and since I was 12 years old, I’ve been racing every weekend. Some seasons it has been quite intense, especially in karting when I had 25-30 race weekends in one season.
“This obviously had a huge impact on my career because especially as a young kid, it could be quite tough travelling so much and being around all the people in the paddock and all the teams who spoke English. Of course, as a 12-year-old kid, I didn’t have really good English, so they played a crucial part in my career for sure.
“On the technical side, it was actually a positive thing that they always let me do whatever I needed to do because at the end of the day, I work together with some professionals who can guide me on a technical level in a better way than my parents can. My parents are more of a mental support, just being at every race weekend consistently for 10 years.
“My dad always told me that he’s really nervous when I jump into the car. Some people have tried to speak with him whilst I’m racing on track, but he’s never able to actually have conversations with people because he’s so into it. He has to see where I am – he has the live timings open and it’s a super intense experience for him as well. Of course, they’re both a little bit nervous because parents are usually, but they’re happy with me doing what I like and enjoy.
“They usually come to most race weekends, so it’s really nice to have support here. Also, when we’re at home I still have a lot of work to do, a lot of simulator time and other activities related to driving, so they keep supporting me with all those kinds of things.”
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AYRTON SENNA
“He was always someone I looked up to and when I was I young kid, I was really passionate about him. Obviously, I didn’t have a chance to see him racing because unfortunately he died before I was born, but I remember watching some of his old F1 races – looking up to him, how much passion he had, the will he had to win races and how much work he put into it.
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“I think this is the key to success in my opinion and that’s something I took from watching his races and documentary, which influenced me, and I think about quite a lot. When I go to the gym at home, I always put some old F1 races on the TV just to learn as much as I can, and I really enjoy watching some of the classic Senna races over the years.
“For me, I think it’s really important to admire someone like that because at the end of the day, in order to improve myself and get better I need to have some rules. I need to have some people to look up to who have done a better job. It’s key to have someone like Senna to look up to, he did an amazing job in his career, and you can clearly see why by watching his races, interviews or his documentary.
“I am very passionate about racing, I really enjoy it and I think that’s a very important thing I learnt from him because if you don’t enjoy doing something, it’s not possible to perform at the highest level. The other quality I took from him is his determination and will to succeed, which in my opinion is another key attribute needed in order to be good.”