Photo By Staff Sgt. Smythe Angelique | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua VanHorn, 65th Medical Operations Squadron medical...... read more read more
LAJES FIELD, Portugal - U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua VanHorn is living his dream. He races cars in the Azores while building friendships and host nation relations within the Portuguese community.
VanHorn, a 65th Medical Operations Squadron medical technician on Lajes Field, loves cars - anything from a Toyota Prius to Lamborghinis. He also loves upgrading and personalizing his own cars.
"I love fabricating parts on cars; I love making it my own," he said. "Ever since I got my first car in high school, I realized having the same car as everyone else was kind of boring to me. I started with just changing the outside appearance. My last car had retro fitting headlights. I painted the plastic pieces and the headlights to make projector lenses and things like that.
"A lot of people say how a guy takes care of his car is sort of like how he represents himself. If you're a car guy, then your car represents your personality."
When he arrived two years ago with a car that was the only one of its kind on island, VanHorn quickly gained the attention of car enthusiasts both on and off base.
"It's the fastest car on the island," he said of his current turbo-powered white Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. "It has an all-wheel drive turbo, and it's built to drive on a track. That got me a lot of attention and a lot of friends."
VanHorn's Portuguese landlord, who is a professional driver, connected him with a few new friends, who then introduced him to some of the island's racing events.
"I joined the Air Force to travel, to see the world, and so this has just been a great opportunity for me," he said.
Although he'd always loved racing, VanHorn's first opportunity to race didn't come until after being stationed in the Azores. He first participated in rally cross and autocross racing here on island in 2012.
"Rally cross is wheel-to-wheel racing; I have to focus on driving with all the other cars around me," he said. "Autocross is a timed competition on a planned course. Only one car goes at a time, and it allows me to just really focus on my driving."
At first, VanHorn was the only American visiting the Olavo Esteves Competitions track in Praia da Vitoria. However, he was very much welcomed by the Portuguese.
"They embraced me," said VanHorn. "They love seeing Americans here. The more I come to these events, the more other Americans come, and they're usually people I've invited. I love spreading the word about the track because it's so close to base, yet no one really knows about it."
As for his rally car, VanHorn recently purchased a small European vehicle from a Portuguese friend and continues to customize and upgrade it for races. The car is equipped with complete safety measures, such as a full roll cage, bucket seats with racing harnessing seat belts, and a fire extinguishing set up. When racing, VanHorn wears a full fire retardant suit, gloves and a helmet for personal protection.
On the outside, his electric blue two-door Nissan Micra displays several logos of local sponsors as well as an American flag with his last name on the rear driver's-side window.
"As the only American out here representing the U.S., I have the American flag on the side of my car," he said. "That kind of makes me a target during competitions - a friendly one. When we're on the track, it's aggressive and competitive; but off the track, these guys will do anything they can to help me compete. They don't care that I'm American. It's all just for the fun of the sport."
VanHorn, who knows enough Portuguese to get around, usually enlists the help of his friends in translating. They've also helped him translate race schedules onto a Facebook page he created for both American and Portuguese car fans called Cars and Coffee Azores.
Cars and Coffee, a worldwide online organization, helps proud drivers around the world network and gather together for car shows and conversation near their hometowns.
VanHorn is currently corresponding with the president of the trademarked organization in efforts to place Portugal on the map of Cars and Coffee. Once a month he hosts meetings with members of Cars and Coffee Azores to talk about cars and upcoming races.
"It's fun to just hang out, show off your car, talk about cars - new cars, old cars - cruise around together and just show off your personality," he said.
"It's all about the love of cars, no matter what language you speak or where you're from. I have an amazing Portuguese rally mechanic that I trust with both my everyday car and my race car. He translated to me, 'I don't know what you're saying, but I know cars.'"
VanHorn considers himself an adrenaline junkie and said he feels great adding race car driver as one more tool under his belt, which includes being scuba diver certified, holding a personal trainer certification, and being a registered emergency medical technician for the Air Force.
"Right now I work in the Family Medicine Clinic, and although I love my job and I love caring for patients, it can become mundane at times," he said. "When I first started out at Lajes, I worked in ambulance services. When the phone rings, I'm excited; I get pumped. I'm not afraid of emergency; I'm confident in my job; and I've literally had people's lives in my hands before.
"It's almost the same with racing - it's just an adrenaline kick. You get in there, and you're surrounded by other drivers. The light turns green, everybody goes at once, and the dirt starts flying."
Some of VanHorn's coworkers said they enjoy attending the races because it allows them the opportunity to interact with local nationals who are also interested in the same things.
"Sergeant VanHorn is always accepting a challenge," said one coworker, Senior Airman Hannah Meza, 65th MDOS medical technician. "At work, he's a great leader, and I think it's great that he's building such great relations with the Portuguese. Olavo, who owns the track, really appreciates the Americans who come because of him. Sometimes people seem surprised to see Americans there, so we try to talk to them even though they don't always understand us - but it usually works out one way or another."
Olavo Esteves, who's owned the track for four years, said, "It's always nice to have Americans racing here because they're very respectful people and they do everything by the rules."
Esteves and VanHorn met more than a year ago. Esteves, who's been a rally driver for more than 16 years, said, "I think I've met a good friend."
Lt. Col. Kenny Harryman, 65th MDOS commander, said she's glad VanHorn found a unique way to build and strengthen host nation relations while doing something he loves.
"It's important to build these relationships and be seen as a friend instead of just another Airman on the island," she said.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2014 12:57 |
| Story ID: | 124669 |
| Location: | LAJES FIELD, 1, PT |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Airman builds international relations through love of cars, by SSgt Smythe Angelique, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT