CHELSEA ANGELO’S POSITIVE APPROACH

We asked Chelsea Angelo to give us her thoughts on the ARG TCR Australia eSports – the only racing she can do in our crazy mixed up world at the moment, and its just in time for tonight’s racing which will see the 41 drivers go from TCR Audi’s into single seater Formula 3 cars, something which Angelo has already driven, in real life!

Chelsea has experienced more than her fair share of ups and downs during her motorsport career. The 23 year old has raced everything from a Hyundai Excel to a Mercedes -Benz powered Dallara F307 during her 8 year circuit racing career.

After securing the runner-up position in the 2014 Formula 3 Australia National Class, Angelo ran two seasons in the Dunlop Super 2 category and then moved to the Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge in 2018.

Angleo trialed for the inaugural F3 based W-Series in 2019 and was considered unlucky by many to narrowly miss out on a place on the grid, but Chelsea remained upbeat on her return to Australia.

Angelo, having previously raced in front wheel drive Hyundai Excels, was instantly attracted to the burgeoning TCR category and put together a budget to drive one of the Kelly Racing Opel Astra’s (rebadged with the Holden logo). The inaugural championship proved to be one punctuated by teething problems and reliability issues as local teams came to terms with their new machinery. Chelsea endured a torrid time as reliability issues within Kelly Racing’s stable of Astras and Subaru WRX, saw her sidelined from round 4 in Queensland until the season finale at The Bend. Her long awaited return was also short lived after an incident with Liam McAdam in the opening race of the weekend saw Angelo’s Dare Iced Coffee entry bent and broken so significantly that it was almost written off.

Kelly Racing closure of it’s TCR program at the conclusion of the season, left Chelsea Angelo both out of pocket and out of a team for 2020.

A move to the Melbourne Performance Centre Racing Team saw Chelsea on the grid for the 2020 TCR Asia Pacific Cup. She qualified as the fastest of the Volkswagen Golf GTi runners and ended just behind MPC teammate Hamish Ribarits in his Audi RS3.

History shows that Chelsea was denied the chance to race once more when fears surrounding the COVID-19 virus brought a sudden halt to the 2020 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix. Racing across the country was also halted as the Australian Government brought in social distancing and social isolation measures.

While most sports across the globe have gone into a government imposed period of hibernation, drivers have taken to virtual racing to pass the time and maintain a level of racing fitness. Chelsea Angelo is not exception as she joined the carsales ARG eSport Cup, armed with her Simworx Simulator – Velocity Magazines Supercars eSeries Category Sponsors.

“I’m absolutely loving the ARG Cup E Series. It gives us drivers an excuse to keep ourselves on track (virtually of course),” Chelsea told Velocity Magazine. “We’ve currently done 3 rounds so far. Unfortunately the last round wasn’t the greatest run but had heaps of fun and can’t thank everyone at ARG for their continued help.”

While Angelo’s immediate future remains tied to her simulator and the car sales ARG eSport Cup, her return to real life racing, like many aspects of life post COVID-19, does not look positive at this point in time.

“Regarding my goals for next year let alone 2020, we were hoping to do the TCR campaign again, however that has now been put to a stop,” Angelo admitted. “All sponsorship/finances will clearly be a hard struggle to fight for. I’m hoping once this os all over I will work hard to try and get myself back in a seat. For now it’s virtual sim racing.”

Far from being pessimistic, Angelo has taken a positive approach and continues to train while the world remains in lockdown and will be race ready should any opportunity arise.

“I’ve still kept my training up with doing F45 Live Workouts at home. I’m trying everything I can do be as best prepped as I can for the coming future,” Chelsea Angelo exclaimed.

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