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Beaches, seafood and the carnival: Rafael Câmara’s Hometown Tour
Rafael Câmara spends a lot of time in Europe now at this stage of his career in motorsport, but before that he was racing around the karting track back home in Recife, Brazil.
Earlier this year, we caught up with the 2025 Formula 3 Champion with TRIDENT to get a tour of his hometown, and what he recommends you do if you were to visit.
“I'm from Recife, in Brazil, in the Northeast. It's a city where it's close to the beach, close to the tropical line, so basically all year it's quite hot. We are always going to the beach and it's close to the sea, so whenever I go back to Brazil, to go there, it's very nice.
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“It's very famous for its carnivals. So since I was very young, I have seen my parents always going because it's very traditional.
“All the partying that they do is very traditional for the city, so it's one of the biggest carnivals in Brazil. I recommend a lot for everyone to go there, because it's a really nice experience, even if I have never been. I went when I was young, but I don't really remember.
“But I have never been able to truly go because I am always racing, but everyone really likes it. Even people from São Paulo go there, to at least experience it.
“In Brazil, it's a small town, a small city. The people there are very kind, it's very nice to see, and we also have seafood, the beaches are very nice there. But it's a small place, so everyone knows each other more or less, which is quite nice.
“I was looking at it recently, and I think it's about two, maybe three, four million, but it could be more, I don't really remember.
“So I started karting at Kartódromo do Tamboril, which was like forty minutes from my house. My dad at work, he had a friend, whose son was starting in karting, and then they spoke and my dad liked the idea, so then asked if my brother wanted to try.
“My brother is five years older than me, so my dad took him to the go kart track to do some laps, and he was doing it for half a year, but he didn't really like it. But every time they were going I was always waking up with them to go, because it was on Saturdays and Sundays.
“From there, he said to my dad that he wanted to stop and then I said to my dad that when I am six, I would want to try, because at the time I was five and you were not allowed to start before six.
“So when I was six, I asked my dad to start and from there, I just liked it and started to grow up, to get better, and here I am now.
“So it was a long journey, and even in our family, my grandmother, she drove some racing cars, so she did some races, but when I was young, I didn't know.
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“So after I started karting and then she started to show me the trophies and everything, so it was meant to be.
“But again, I would recommend that people visit the beaches and they should also go to the carnivals.”