Drive4Life

D4L: How did you get into racing? Is it something you've wanted to do from an early age?

NL: I always liked cars from a young age, especially fast cars. I then had the opportunity to drive some cars around my father's farm property here in England, and that's when i got interested in car tuning and rallying. I then became friends with a student at Greenfields School in Forest Row (JJ Vannier), and he too was into racing. We then did the famous 5-day race intensive racing course at Silverstone to gain our racing licences, and two years later we started the Narconon(R) UK Race Team with the slogan "Drive-Against-Drugs"

D4L: What made you want to promote the drug-free message on your car?

NL: I actually had a friend back 5 years ago who smoked a lot of weed and then got expelled from school, and that really wasn't ok with me. I also know friends of my friends who smoke weed, and they are REALLY slow at things!! I never took drugs myself, but I know how it can affect people's lives, and starting a racing team which promotes "no drugs" is something my friend and I really enjoy doing! We know that something can be done about it!

D4L: How far do you want to go with your racing?

NL: I want to go all the way. I want to win races, championships and I also want to take it to an international level. For 2 reasons. One because I just love racing, and two, the more international the racing becomes, the more people will get the message about living drug-free!!

D4L: We understand you were born in Austria? Do you feel you have to live up to the other famous Austrian driver called Niki?

NL: haha well... yes, I was born in Vienna like Niki Lauda, and I also can be called "Niki L." like him, but hey,
I don't think I need to, but I'm sure it will be fun to "live up to it"! I would like to be one of the next famous Austrian racers.

D4L: We have seen your popularity with young people at races. How do you feel about this?

NL: Quite good actually, because the young people kind of look at the car and go "oh, that's a nice car, and look, Drive4Life - be drug-free, and that sounds good..." and they also get the idea that drugs aren't the best thing in life, succeeding is much better!

D4L: Would you agree that racing is not all glamour? What keeps you going through the tougher times?

NL: yeah... racing is not just about winning and having good races... I guess I still have a career to look forward to, so one race doesn't necessarily have to affect that. But the thing is, I have goals, and those goals will always be there, even if I've had a bad race. The other thing is, I promote a great cause -the Drive4Life campaign and NO-drugs- to hundred of thousands of people around the UK and that's a reason why I should always be doing really well.

D4L: Thank you and we wish you every success.