Leave more than skidmarks… Leave a Legacy! 15 years ago, we believe we did our part

“Keep The Dream”

Thanks to AutoSimSport Founder, Alex Martini, GPLegacy did not go quietly into the

night

GPLegacy 3D Modeller Alex Balanesko (RUS), not only did write an emotional article about the grim circumstances that took hold of the outfit in 2008, but presented a complete series with a 3D model he and Hermmie had imported into rFactor known as “The Get Well Sergio Cup”. It was also in this issue, that Alex Martini showed with a very brief but heartfelt column, what friendship is about when interests, values, and passion coalesce and make respectful ad hard-working alliances become an important piece of history -- at least where Sim Racing is concerned. The full magazine can be found at : http://issuu.com/autosimsportmediallc/docs/autosimsport_v4i5 Unfortunately, the PDF version of the issue has been lost, Alex Martini doesn’t seem to have it, and along with the people Alex (Balanesko) mentions turning their back, is the only person who could have the original copy of the magazine, or the ability to make the issue downloadable from issuu.com

Alex Martini Added on the next page:

GPLegacy had a comeback in 2009 with a couple of events with A1GP Team Mexico, mainly with their new sponsor “Scribe”, a few more events with Pancho Name, for Rallying, and one more with the Canada Dry Racing Team in a Mexican racing series called “Turmex”. The comeback, however, wasn’t strong enough to follow up on further projects and Sergio’s recovery took longer than expected… Not only that, but as it turned out, the reason behind the seizure, which in turn lead to the transient ischemic attack (stroke, fortunately without bleed, just a temporary oxygen deprivation, was because of a clinical condition which had never been properly diagnosed: Bipolar Disorder. Hence the reason for the creation of www.vidabipolar.com as Sergio’snext enterprise, a non profit NGO in México, devoted for suicide prevention and mental health information, focused on Bipolar disorder while still working a lot with an organization devoted on schizophrenia. It took 37 years for Sergio to be properly diagnosed, that’s 3 more after the stroke. The condition was so advanced that another seizure hit him when he was about to turn 37. Bipolar disorder is seriously misunderstood, with a 20% mortality rate due to suicide (that’s 1 out of each 5 people who have it) , and it’s the 6th disability cause according to the Mental Health Organization. One of Sergio’s hopes was that in a way, GPLegacy could come back, even if not involved in professional racing or sim racing anymore, but with his designs, which account not only for car liveries and logos, but creative ideas that now have proven to be a good source for a clothing line. It was a painful blow when people turned their backs as he struggled with his health, but nothing as brutal as realizing that more people would do the same once they knew about the bipolar disorder diagnose. But as always, one has to carry on, we all need to do our best with whatever life throws at us, and Sergio is not ready to give up yet.