Alex Riberio's career spans more than twenty years and includes Formula Three, Formula Two, and Formula One races. He actually raced during the 70s and 80s before many of the safety features, now taken for granted, were developed. During the course of his career, Riberio says he "lost at least 12 dear colleagues in motor racing. Now, it's much, much safer."
Riberio's love of cars actually saved his life. He was a hard-to-handle eight-year-old who had been sent to live with relatives and he wouldn't listen to anyone. That is, until he met a pastor who happened to drive a Jeep.
"He became my hero because of the Jeep, I was mad about cars and that Jeep was a gem. I paid attention to the pastor's sermon and I understood the fact that my father and my mother and my grandmother and grandfathers, were all Christians, didn't make me a Christian; God does not have
grandsons, just sons and daughters. After I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I had such a peace in my mind, and in my heart, that from there on, I could put any car model together, be it professional ones, or even toys for grown up kids."
Riberio couldn't learn enough about cars. He became a boy mechanic and as a teenager, dreamed of becoming a race car driver. There was only one problem, he didn't have the money for
a car.
"I just put together a technical data of a racing car which I thought would suit me and I started asking God to give me a car like that. The Lord answered my prayer and gave me the car and it was not exactly like I asked."
Alex's father had a big accident with his road car, the Volkswagen was totaled, even the insurance company didn't want it. So he gave Alex the wreckage from which he and his high school friends went on to build, a race car they named the UFO. Riberio says the car was so ugly that soon, Ugly Duckling was the popular name of it.
On the first race with Ugly Duckling, Riberio says, "there was no practice, no qualification, just a draw. There were 33 cars and we were 33rd on the draw, so it was on the last of the grid. I remembered a verse from the Bible that says, "The last will come first," so today is going to be a great day."
Ugly Duckling with Riberio finished second, racing against professionals driving Porsches, Alfas and Renaults. Riberio and his friends were over the moon. He says,
"I was very happy, more happy, more euphoric than proud. That's why I put the very small Jesus Saves sign on the wind screen, to express my gratitude to God."
The "Jesus Saves" slogan on his race car became Riberio's trademark. Named Rookie of the Year, his high-octane career soon took off. Riberio became the Brazilian champion in Formula Fours, and was the number one in the ranking of the Brazilian drivers in 1973. He got on sponsorship, went to England to race Formula Three, and was second in the British championship in his
first year. Following his success, Riberio graduated to Formula Two and one year later, he won his first race in Formula One in the United States.
Alex's turbo-charged rise to Formula One racing didn't work out so he returned to Formula Two --only to find more disappointment.
"We had a lot of what the world called "bad luck," every decision we took after the great victory was
wrong. When we run on wet tires, it didn't rain, when we put dry tires, it rained," Riberio said.
After two years of struggling, his team left England for a race in Argentina. Riberio had just passed the second car when events turned freakish -- a newspaper flew in his engine, went right inside the air duct of his radiator, blocked the radiator and the engine overheated and blew up. Riberio says, "that was the end of my last hope."
Riberio had no car, no sponsors, no career and worst of all, no faith. Instead he says he was mad at God.
"I said, "Well, I had enough of God. From now on, I'm going to be an atheist."
Riberio didn't have much time to nurse his bitterness. When he learned that his daughter had just been born, he returned home and held the baby in his arms. That moment changed everything. Riberio says, "I was a rock. I could see a colleague die on the the race track and I would not get emotional about it. But that day I cried like an old fool and told the baby, "I'm not an atheist anymore." My life of atheist lasted less than 24 hours."
The new father still didn't have a job. Alex's Formula One career had ended and it was difficult to carve out a new life. He wrote a book, farmed and played the stock market, but it was when he began sharing his faith with professional athletes, that he knew he had found his life purpose.
"The vision that God gave me is that it is possible to reach the world for Christ through
the universal language of sport. I had thought that died when my career died, but now I can see it more and more alive in the lives of 7,500 Brazilians players, and especially in football,which is the number one sport in my country and not only here, but all over the world."
Riberio is the spiritual mentor to the Brazilian football team and a minister to the country's Olympic athletes.
After more than 20 yrs as a very successful car racing driver, one of the principles Riberio has learned about winning in life is this:
"We come to this world naked and we get out of it with nothing. Everything we acquire or we do here will remain here. But, whatever we do to get to know God better, to walk closer with Him will reflect in
eternity."
