Walero’s ‘Real Racers’ campaign intends to shine a light on the personalities, stories and characters across all levels of motorsport. All members of the campaign compete up and down the land and have chosen Walero to keep them cool under pressure and help them fight it out at the front of the grid.

‍

In our latest edition, we speak to Matt Giuffre – a talented driver at National level competition across the United States. Matt’s journey into motorsport stemmed through his childhood love of all things cars and since his first steps, he has embarked on not only a journey to enjoy his love of motorsport but also one to gain a better understanding of the finer details of motor engineering and mechanics!

‍

Matt Giuffre’s journey to where he currently stands in 2024 has been one full of passion and determination, as he has stopped at nothing to pursue a dream that started with every young boy's obsession and with each step taken, Matt has risen to the challenges that confronted him to become the racer he is today.

‍

“I vividly remember my love of cars starting when I was a young boy, where I lived as a child, my family always used to go to an amazing Chinese restaurant and in that restaurant  would always be a big collection of car magazines! I had always had a love of anything with four wheels and remember spending hours on end just looking through these magazines, in particular the listings of cars for sales, which I was obsessed with!”

‍

“I started by asking my parents for a go-kart, I thought that would be a fairly reasonable request, but they refused,” he recalls with a smile. “They said it would be too dangerous and expensive, so instead they bought me a small ATV for Christmas. I was hooked from the moment I stepped foot into it. I would drive it round the yard on little circuits I had built and would often get home straight from school, chuck my bag down and head out with some friends who had dirt bikes and thrash around the forest!”

‍

From that moment, Matt’s obsession with cars had reached another level and this love would continue into his high school years. He would find himself involved with the school's ‘Electrathon’ competition, which would see teams competing against each other to build an electric powered race car for use in an endurance style event. The competition would take place at the legendary Lime Rock Park circuit and it was there that he would discover his true passion for motorsport.

‍

“Lime Rock Park was a fantastic race track, so I was incredibly excited to visit and see what it was all about! Our school competition was taking place on the karting track, which was slap bang in the middle of the circuit and all I can remember is just being in awe of the cars pounding round the track that surrounded us.”

‍

“I think there was some form of track day going on at the time, but just seeing people racing and having a blast was all the encouragement I needed. I left Lime Rock with one goal on my mind, and that was my aim to become a racing driver.” 

‍

‍

After his high school studies ended, Matt would move to Rochester, New York to study Mechanical Engineering, with the aim of furthering a career in the world of car mechanics or engineering. The dream of becoming a racing driver was still on, but it was placed on hold as Matt excelled in his college studies and keenly decided that he would wait till he fully graduated before he looked to pursue his dream in earnest.

‍

Shortly after graduating from college, Matt would begin his search for the right racing series in which he could make his mark. With a limited budget, he spent hours and hours researching the ins and outs of every national level racing championship that was on offer from the Spec Miata Series to TransAm spec touring cars.

‍

“I was so desperate for the dream to come true, that I didn’t want to take any chances with the series I was looking to race in. A lot of people when they start racing for the first time charge in headfirst and don’t really put any consideration towards the running costs, which tend to add up over time! The Spec Miata series seemed very expensive, so I settled upon the Porsche 944 Spec series as my championship of choice.”

‍

“I could not wait to get started, it was the culmination of plenty of saving up and working as many jobs as I could to gather as much money as possible, all so I could go and chase my dream. It was daunting to think about, as I had put plenty of effort into getting to where I was, but the thought of getting behind the wheel and racing in anger for the first time was amazing.”

‍

Matt would purchase his first ever race car in the following months, a Porsche 944 that in his words ‘was rough round the edges and had seen better days,’ but a race car is a race car and he could not wait to get started. Matt had moved to Michigan by this point as he furthered his career in the automotive industry, but he took the trip back to Rochester, and transported the car back home with a trailer, eventually where it would wind up in his garage as Matt looked to get his racing season underway.

‍

His motorsport dream would kickstart in 2019 with several eventful opening races, being a complete amateur to the world of racing, Matt was keen to learn and lean on the experience of the more seasoned driver that surrounded him and soon he would begin honing his skills around a variety of race tracks across the USA from Daytona to Road America in National competition.

‍

“To finally be racing around some of the country’s top tracks was a feeling that will never be topped in my opinion. However, it was such a steep learning curve and I was learning so much with every passing session on track. I had to get my head around not only race craft and competition, but also the minefield that is car setup. I already had a pretty good understanding of the basics of setup due to my time in high school and my college studies, but this was a whole new level of exploration.”

‍

“I would spend hours upon hours trawling through my onboard footage, data and times to find everything I could improve upon. Often, I would head straight from the car at the end of the session and rush to our team truck, there I would ‘brain-dump’ everything I had experienced during the session and it genuinely made such a difference to my learning experience on track.”

‍

Matt would improve with each race, getting up to speed quickly in a championship filled with experienced drivers to obtain his racing licence in double quick time. The 2019 season would see Matt collect his maiden pole position, podium and race win in car racing, the latter achieved on slick tyres in treacherous conditions at Autobahn Country Club.

‍

‍

He would spend several years in the NASA Porsche 944 Spec Championship, continuing to hone his driving skills behind the wheel and in 2021 he would head to the legendary Daytona Motor Speedway, where he would put in a mighty performance in the final race of the weekend to recover from the back of the grid to the podium places, to finish the championship weekend in third place, further emphasising his emphatic rise up the championship ranks. Overall, the 2021 season would see Matt put in some superb performances, clinching 9 wins and plenty of podiums, but soon he would be searching for his next challenge.

‍

2022 beckoned and this would see Matt discover a new challenge, but also the Walero base layers for the very first time! 

‍

“Going into the 2022 season, I was embarking on a completely new challenge with the step into the SCCA Spec B series, behind the wheel of a Fords Fiesta. The opportunity had been presented to me from a chance encounter with the car’s owner, Fritz Wilke and immediately we had a connection. It was a completely new car to learn as it was front wheel drive, so myself and the new team I had just become a part of headed to sunny Florida and the extremely bumpy Sebring, to do some testing,”

‍

“As everyone knows Florida is extremely hot and the weather that day was boiling, I had never been a fan of base layers under my race suit in general and I had never thought of even attempting to wear fire-resistant ones, which looking back on, was a rash decision.”

‍

“Fritz generously gifted me a full set of Walero base layers to try that weekend and I have genuinely never looked back since! I immediately felt so comfortable in the car, I felt cooler, calmer and getting out of the car after a hot, sweaty session of driving without being dripping in sweat was no mean feat. But the Walero base layers do an amazing job and I have not stopped wearing them since.”

‍

‍

After cutting his teeth in the B-Spec series, where he would collect 2 victories and 7 podiums, Matt would return to his happy hunting ground of the NASA 944 Spec Series, with one goal on his mind. Championship victory. Matt would make his mark on the championship in the year that followed, putting everything he had learnt from both a driving and engineering perspective in his racing career so far into practice.

‍

Matt would storm to the championship title in scintillating fashion, becoming the NASA National Champion in style as the season came to a close.

‍

“2023 was an incredible year for me, it really felt like all the lessons I had learnt since I first stepped foot in a race car in 2019 had come together. All the time spent delving through data, onboard footage, scribbling down notes on corners or trying and testing different car setups to strike that perfect balance was all worth it. If you had told teenage me that he would be a National Champion and driving a Porsche race car, I would have bitten your hand off!

‍

“Combining my love of all things cars with my day job and hobby is a dream come true and I am so thankful for everyone who has supported me on this journey and Walero have been key in this by keeping me super comfy when racing, which of course has been key.”

‍

‍

2024 sees Matt taking on his biggest challenge yet, piloting a Toyota Supra GR in the World Racing League around America’s top tracks in endurance style competition. The opportunity arose through Matt’s day job, where he is a key figure in Toyota North America’s Research and Development Team. Matt and a closely knit group of his colleagues are a part of a wider company initiative to encourage employees to get involved in the world of motorsport. The team put in all the work after hours and utilise all their spare time after work to prepare and race the car on weekends throughout the year.

‍

“2024 has been the biggest step up for me yet, it’s pretty much a Supra GT4 car which is a joy to drive and I have definitely been putting everything I have learnt into practice. Imagine a group of your colleagues volunteering their time after-hours to compete at the highest non-professional level of a sport. That’s pretty much what this is and boy is it fun!”

‍

It is clear to see Matt’s racing journey has been fuelled by his passion and determination, which was sparked from a young age. His engineering prowess and eagerness to learn from his mistakes, no matter how small, resonate well with our values here at Walero and we are delighted to have supported his racing journey which you can follow on his Instagram.