Lungdaard: My greatest influences

Coming from a ‘family of speed,’ Christian Lundgaard has grown up around hugely influential people, while meeting many more along the way. But who has had the biggest impact?

We sat down with the ART Grand Prix ace to discuss the people who have played a part in his journey to date. From friends and family to the Alpine Academy, he discusses who has been key.

1. MY DAD, HENRIK LUNDGAARD

“Number 1 on this list has to be my dad because he is the one who got me into the sport. His decision to start racing in his younger days brought me to the position that I am in today.

“When my dad was 18, he made the decision to start. He brought himself a car, built it into a rally car and signed up for a race in Denmark. He turned out to be pretty good and was able to make a career of it.

“In my early days, he was still racing. I think he was still racing back in 2014/2015, so the majority of my life he was still racing. At that point, he brought opportunities for me and my brother to start racing. He was never pushing us to do anything, he gave us the opportunity and then we could decide whether or not we wanted to do it.

“There was the choice of doing a cheap sport, like playing football, or the expensive choice. Obviously, we both went the expensive way. This also forced him to stop because there wasn’t the budget for all three of us to drive.

“My mum used to do Motocross as well, so we are a family of speed. My uncle races, and my cousin is a Danish Champion in Motocross too. My dad was the one who gave me the opportunity and he is still pushing me in the right way, calling me and asking how I could improve and what I could do differently, and asking how he can help to make me better. He always makes sure that I realise that he is not trying to be annoying as well, he is trying to help me, and it is nice to have that support from my family, they are all supporting me.”

2. THE ALPINE ACADEMY AND EVERYONE WHO IS SUPPORTING ME

“Everyone who is behind me in general. From my family to my sponsors and the Alpine Academy. Alpine have probably had the biggest effect on my career. They picked me up in my final year of karting and took me into cars. Without their support, I’d have never had the opportunity to step into cars.”

3. FORMULA 1

“When I was younger, I just enjoyed watching F1 because it was exciting. There were close battles between drivers all of the time. Sometimes they ended up with contact and crashes and they were so exciting to watch and that is what I enjoyed watching when I was smaller.

“When I grew up, I realised that it was better to beat them than to crash - beating them is more fun. But just the whole sport in general had an effect. The battles, the adrenaline. Beating people is the best feeling. That desire to be the best.”