F1 News
How Max Verstappen started his racing career: 'Had to buy Max a kart!'
- Ludo van Denderen
Max Verstappen's millions of fans owe a debt of gratitude to Richard Pex. Although the entrepreneur from the Dutch city Echt may not be a household name, he is the one who first put a young Verstappen in a kart, setting the stage for the rest of his legendary career.
Over two decades ago, Richard Pex regularly visited the go-kart track in Genk, Belgium, with his sons Jorrit and Stan. It was there that he first met Jos Verstappen and his wife Sophie. One day, when Max was at the karting centre with his mother Sophie—a talented karting star in her own right—Pex was approached.
Max Verstappen whined about racing to mother
"[Sophie] said: 'Max told me to ask you how old Stan is'. I said 4 and then Max said, 'See. I'm already 5 and I have to wait until 6'. From Jos, he actually had to wait until he was 6, but I then said to Max: 'Do you want to ride then? Sophie didn't really want to, but we did it anyway."
A few days later, Jos contacted Pex. "A few days later Jos called me. 'Yes, and thanks,' he said. 'Now I have to go buy Max a kart'," Grandprixnews reports. That moment turned out to be the stepping stone to Max Verstappen's highly successful career. Pex and Jos Verstappen hit it off right away and have remained close friends ever since.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
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