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Kanaan - from riches to rags and back again

When Tony Kanaan lost his father, he was forced to leave school at 14 to keep his family's head above water. In celebration of his Indy 500 triumph, AUTOSPORT looks back to its 2004 recounting of his amazing life

Marcus Simmons May 28, 2013, 7:51 PM

In 2004, Tony Kanaan claimed three wins and 11 podiums en route to a first - and to date only - IndyCar title. His crowning was the culmination of a rise to stardom that serves as an inspiring tale of dedication stretching back more than 20 years. In celebration of his 2013 Indianapolis 500 triumph, we look back to Marcus Simmons's 2004 interview with the Brazilian.

CHAPTER 1 (Brazil, 1974-92)

Born on New Years Eve, 1974, Antoine 'Tony' Kanaan was just a normal Brazilian karting kid, no money worries, racing at the weekends with the full support of his father. The Kanaans were from Salvador, a massive hike north of Sao Paulo. But that didn't stop them trekking to the country's karting capital, where Tony soon became friends, at the age of nine, with a 12-year-old lad called Rubens Barrichello.

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Author Marcus Simmons

Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.

Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.