Blind Race Fan Gets the Ride of a Lifetime in Two Seater F1 Car
Charaf-Eddin Ait-Tales has been a Formula 1 fan all his life.
When the racing superfan went blind at 20, he knew he had to latch onto something he loved to hold onto a bit of normalcy. Not surprisingly, that thing was Formula 1, and he’s been passionately following the sport around the globe ever since.
When F1 presenter Will Buxton met the F1-obsessed Ait-Tales, he got the idea to provide him with the chance of a lifetime. That’s where F1 Experiences came in – the promotional arm of F1 that aims to better connect fans with the on-track experience that drivers get. Part of the F1 Experiences program includes giving fans rides in a two-seater open-wheel car that resembles an F1 car, so naturally, they offered Ait-Tales a ride at the recent Spanish GP.
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Despite Ait-Tales’ impairment, he knows every single corner on the mainstay F1 tracks, and knew exactly where he was on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during his ride. Seeing his elation after climbing out of the car is enough to bring a tear to anyone’s eye – race fan or not.
Check out the video from Ait-Tales experience embedded above.
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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