Nineteen-year-old Calvin Stanley Ming, also called “Stan”, was born in Guyana to Michele and Stanley Ming and is the only son in the family. His three sisters are Stacy, Siobhan and Serena Ming.
This talented young man grew up in Georgetown. He attended the American School in Forms One and Two and completed his secondary education at School of the Nations. He is currently attending Florida International University, (FIU) pursing studies in Civil Engineering.
He got involved in motor racing at a tender age, all because of his father. He grew up watching his dad drive shifter karts at the South Dakota circuit and always looked up to him.
At the age of six, his father presented him with his own kart which he started to drive up and down the cul-de-sac outside their home in Blygezigt Gardens, around plastic pylons.
After a few months, his father took him to the National Park, the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club kart track at Cosmos, then the South Dakota Circuit where he practiced. At the age of 13, the young man was in full competition mode at the South Dakota circuit, at Timehri, East Bank Demerara.
This was just the beginning, soon after which he branched off and was competing in the Caribbean and the USA. Obviously, in those regions were completely different cultures and climate to which he had to adjust.
While racing, he has had to face new challenges such as new tracks, making new friends, new experiences and was always in learning mode. More so, he had to go up against the odds, the people who disliked him but at the same time, he felt anxious, excited, happy and nervous whenever he had to be racing on different turfs.
At 19, he has his eyes set on Formula One racing, one that is completely different from the races we witness at the South Dakota Circuit. As he embarks on this journey which he admitted will be challenging. He sees being a Formula One racer as one that requires him to be disciplined.
“Racing at the higher levels does not begin the weekend of the race but at least a month before. Studying track notes and watching video data on each track is essential. Hours of practice and seat time is needs to be put in every week to stay conditioned, and simulators are also used. There is a lot of mechanical information that has to be learnt in order to feedback data to the mechanics on paper. There are forms to be filled out after each session, and a lot of time is spent studying data and video footage after each race”, he told the Guyana Times Entertainment.
He added that the Formula cars are different because the wings provide down-force which enables them to travel much faster around corners than any other type of cars. Also, the cars he noted, are light compared to others and you are able to brake much later. Different muscles need to be trained to withstand the G-forces.
“I do not see myself becoming Lewis Hamilton in the future. If I make it in Formula car racing, I plan to make it as Calvin Ming and have my own driving style. I don’t want to copy anyone. I don’t want to become the next Lewis Hamilton, but better”, he posited. The young race car driver recently participated in the High altitude motor race in Mexico City.
It was all different since he was faced with new competition, working with a new team, and leaning the new track and getting the right set-up was a challenge. In fact, for the New Mexico City track, he bought the Formula One video game and assimilated over 250 laps on the track.
However, during the qualifying stage, his car suffered a break failure due to overheating. Nevertheless, he finished fourth in that race. As a young driver, he sees Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel as his role models.
The young Ming was Guyana’s Junior Chess Champion and he would have also won Guyana’s annual Egbert Martin Poetry Prize for the poem, “Our Forest”. In addition, he won the Guyana Annual Short Story Prize for the story, “Crab Catching”.
His advice to young people who would want to take up motor racing as a career is never to give up or doubt yourself. “There will be hard times where you will want to give up but just keep pushing and eventually you will do great things. Even if the odds are against you or even the people closest [to you] don’t believe in you. Believe in yourself and you will grow stronger and stronger”.
He also urged them to be dedicated while noting that education will always be important.
Apart from motor racing, he loves to hang out with my friends, play lawn tennis, table tennis, squash, and play the piano. He is also involved in organisations at his university that help plan events. He is a family oriented person and spends a lot of time with his sisters.
His favourite colour is blue while his favourite food is curry and Chipotle – a dish severed in a Mexican restaurant in the USA.