1989-2015
When I first created this URL it was a silly joke made in absolute celebration. Watching Monaco at 4:30am jumping up and down, cheering as loud as I could while being careful to not wake up my parents, and celebrating with all of you over his victory. This is a memory I will never forget. Watching Jules score those points and thinking, "I am witnessing history in the making, this is Jules first step." This feeling was bigger than watching Vettel be crowned a 4 time World Champion, or seeing Mercedes chase down the perfect season. For seem reason this felt a thousand times more special, it felt so real. Jules touched all our lives as race fans for some reason. As much as we are all devoted to the big names like Hamilton or Alonso, Ferrari and Williams, we could all somehow feel how much potential was in Jules Bianchi. Even driving at the back of the grid not getting much broadcast time, his presence was there. October 5th, 2014 was a day unlike any other for the younger generation of race fans such as myself. We had never witnessed something that major before. We all grew up watching the documentaries and old footage of names like Senna, and seeing Niki Lauda's scarred face every race weekend. We had never fully experienced anything like that before right in front of us though, not knowing what the outcome would be. I can remember not sleeping. Just staring at my computer through my tears waiting for some update from anywhere to tell me it was all going to be okay. That's what we were all so used to before. In the following days/weeks/months I had never seen a community come out in such force as us race fans, trying to figure out how to deal with it and carry on. The immediate and overwhelming support that followed from drivers, teams, and fans alike was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed. That was all because of Jules. His spirit was something almost tangible to even people who had never met him. Something you couldn't help but be drawn to. He was a fighter, and strong. Someone we could all look up to and admire. That's what I hope we can all take away from this tragedy. Do not let Jules' beautiful, courageous spirit die. His fight may be over, but we have the chance to carry on his name. To keep his passion alive in all of us, to motivate us to keep striving for more. We can make sure the name Jules Bianchi never dies out. May his body rest in peace, but his spirit live on.
