Isn’t life a funny thing? Occasionally you get to witness something amazing, something you wouldn’t think could happen in your wildest dreams, but it does, and you get to see it all unfold, more on that later....... Mint joined ROOZ in March 2014, putting an entry in for season 2 in the Mclaren GTR. 'Good luck' i thought, Aliens live in that championship, so much so, we set up a 2nd tier division for those chasing the mind blowingly fast...With Warrior who hadn’t lost a championship, Mustafur who was starting to threaten, Fastboy and optimus, Rotor, and Holland.... just some of the “fast” guys that we were all curious to see how the new drivers would go. Well, a 2nd on Debut was a pretty good effort....surely a little lucky,...or not ! Round 2 saw yet another second place and all of a sudden it was 'on' in our premier division. Some epic racing from all reports, saw Mint finish 2nd in the championship, behind the legendary Warrior, a win at Spa being the tonic to push even harder in season 3. The slower Mazda TC didn’t mean a drop in the level of the racing, if anything it was even more intense, with Warrior, Mint and a fresh Dan Holland fighting all the way in the championship, split by just 10 points after the final round. Mint finished the season with all bar 1 race on the podium, 2nd place in the final 4 races confirming his place among the ROOZ elite. In season 4 he missed rounds 3 and 4 but three 2nd place finishes saw him just miss the podium in fourth place. Season 5 was a bit of a write off, only starting 2 races due to family commitments, but a competitive 4th in the first round a solid result Season 6 saw Mint return to a more “full time” role and it netted a 4th place in the championship, two 2nd places and a 3rd place podium saw him mixing it with the usual suspects of Warrior, Dan Holland and AusNicko. All of these great results in such a short space in time, and i haven’t run over the extra series he has run in, including State of origin, NASCAR, HI-TEC OILS Series and the endurance series to name but a few. His help with other members in trying to find some extra time has been invaluable, and much appreciated among all of us. As i said earlier, sometimes you get witness amazing things, and the last few months has been a roller coaster ride for mint and also for our community. With so many drivers excelling in the GT Academy, its been great to see everyone push each other to bigger and better things. With Aus Nicko, SirPoopington, Pringles, Warrior, Fastboy and Rotor all being part of the GT Academy ride with him. After so many challenges, Mint was selected to head over to Silverstone and then managed to be the selected Australian to run in the final race to determine the international winner. I know there were many who sat up and watched the final race (or live timing !) and to say it was a roller coaster of emotions is an understatement. To go from pole position, to 2nd, then back to the lead and have a great duel with the Turkish driver, only to take the lead again and set the fastest lap, THEN TO HAVE A MECHANICAL ISSUE saw all of us watching share your excitement, then pain, at what we hoped wouldn’t have been a cruel blow to your chances. I know i went to bed feeling deflated, but then to hear the news you had won the title was absolutely fantastic, and a shot in the arm for all of us who had watched your journey..... MINT, im not sure being accepted as a SuperROOZ member has quite the same pull as a 12 month contract with NISMO, but we want you to understand the level of respect you have gained in our community (not only from winning GTA, but also all you have achieved in your short time with us) and it’s that respect that will follow you in anything you do. Winning such a huge competition, and being able to live out all of “our” dreams is something that will live with us long after you have run your last lap, either here or in the real world. Mate, we wish you all the luck in the world, and hope that your new venture turns into a long, successful, enjoyable and more importantly safe challange, one we are sure you will take with both hands....just don’t forget to drop past and say high every now and again ! Cheers ROOZ community
Congrats Matt. Awesome work and very well deserved. Best of luck with all your future endeavors with Nismo, I'm sure we will all be watching
Mint you little bloody legend you!! Didn't find the required time to post something up in the other thread, so I will have to do it here. Can I say that I was at your first race, which was actually in GT6 season 1 where you made a guest appearance in the last race or 2, and I was suitably underwhelmed. Another pretender, he'll get his arse kicked for a few weeks and go back to dominating the public rooms I thought. But he didn't go away, and he joined every event he could, and threw himself into this little community like a champion. Over those next few months, whether it was in a practice room or banging doors on a track you proved to this old dog that you were the real deal, both as a driver and a person. As it turned out, you are the real, real deal. All of us lost sleep that night, but the agony was worth it to wake up to the news that Matt Simmons was a GTA winner!! Congratulations mate, for this and everything else. You have earned it. Can you do us one favour though? Don't stop pushing, don't stop wanting, don't stop smiling, and don't you change...we kinda like you just the way you are. Go and take on the world!!
Matt has said he should be allowed to run personal logos on his suits and helmet in 2016 so watch this space...
I've been meaning to upload this for ages, but here's my all time favourite ROOZ battle, where myself and Mint are nose to tail for almost 20 minutes, whilst separating over 15 seconds away from the chasing pack. Sorry for the horrendous quality.
