Canadian Champ Car driver Alex Tagliani is a speed demon at heart. But off the track, it's a different story.
The 34-year-old enjoys a slower pace on the road. Even though his 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class sedan can handle high speeds, he prefers not to push it.
"I race all my life so I don't need a racy ride. I need other things. I don't need to have the ride of a sports car and the performance of a sports car when I'm at home. I need to be able to open the trunk and have some room to put my luggage.
"I had a lot of different sports cars — Porsches, BMWs — but I just thought the look of the Mercedes was amazing because it's a four-door with a nice-sized trunk, but it still has a sporty look and a really nice ride. I don't want to be in a hard sports car with a harsh ride," says Tagliani, who is gearing up for a race on home turf at the Mont-Tremblant circuit in St. Jovite, Que., June 29-July 1.
Alex Tagliani prefers not to push it when he’s in his 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class sedan. (JANE KALINOWSKY FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Still, Tagliani added a Brabus kit to his Mercedes. "I would not be happy with just a sedan look. I modified it because I wanted to have that sporty look in a sedan car.
"The Brabus body kit, the wheels, the suspension, the exhaust and the whole thing was really important to me because it adds a nice sporty ride as well, if I want it. The Mercedes can definitely ride very quick in corners and you have a good level of grip. It has all these options like air suspension that I really like, too.
"For what I do and the amount of miles I do, I just wanted a car that was fully comfortable, just like sitting in my living room. My car really represents my life. It's practical, you have enough room for four people, and it's classy," says Tagliani, who is a co-ambassador of the Victory Lap Charity Program, a fundraising initiative that offers exclusive racing tickets at Wal-Mart for the Toronto Grand Prix July 6-8. The tickets aren't just cheaper ($75 instead of $104); $20 from each sale goes to the Children's Miracle Network.
"I don't miss any fast-speed riding because of what I do. I have plenty of time to do that. People can imagine that being a race-car driver you would run with a full-on two-door sports car, but in reality, we have a Lincoln Navigator and a Mercedes CLS," says the native of Lachenaie, Que. who now calls Las Vegas home.
His wife, model Bronte Tagliani, usually drives the Navigator. He'll take it when he needs to haul serious stuff like his go-kart trailer.
"In the last 8 years, I've had one ticket and it was with my truck and my trailer. I was going to a go-kart track and I got the ticket because I was doing about 120 km/h. I didn't know the rule that when you pull a trailer 14 feet or longer, you cannot go over 100 km/h.
"I got that ticket, but I'm definitely not stacking up tickets on the table," says Tagliani, who has been racing in the Champ Car series since 2000. He landed his first Champ Car win at the Road America race in 2004.
Tagliani's love of racing started as a kid driving go-karts. He graduated to real cars a short time later.
"I learned to drive when I was 10 years old. That was in a real car. My grandfather put me in a car and he was sitting beside me. I had a couple of rolling rags under my butt. He let me drive his stick shift and I was sliding the clutch a little too much and he was screaming after me! I learned pretty quickly not to slide the clutch in between each shift," he says, laughing.
Tagliani's first car was a Volkswagen Golf GTI, handed down from his mother. "It was white; it had fog lights in the front. It was great.
"I took it and I changed it to yellow, added a Zender kit on it with Momo wheels and everything. It was the best-looking GTI ever running around in Montreal," he says.
Tagliani is laid back behind the wheel, at times, a bit too much. "I'm not there to be stressed and to stress other people. … Once I was coming back home after a really long trip with a lot of promotions and a lot of interviews from the morning to the night. I arrived at Dorval, picked up my car, and drove to my mom's house.
"I was stopped at the lights just before I got to my mom's house and I fell asleep at the wheel. They were beeping behind me. It woke me up. I was so embarrassed."
Tagliani shares another embarrassing moment — this one a bit more public. "On the paddock of the racetrack, just before a race, I was going to the restroom. We have porta-potties right there and I went in. And my crew put a big 45-gallon barrel that they use for trash to block the door.
"I was like screaming! Banging on the door trying to get out of there. Finally when they decided to remove the big barrel in front of the door, I got out — everybody was looking and people were taking pictures!"
When it comes to cars, there's only one rule — he drives. "I'm never a passenger. I get car-sick," he confesses.
Tagliani doesn't spend too much time behind the wheel — he only logs about 4,000 kilometres a year. And when he drives, he pumps up the music, especially Madonna and Bon Jovi.
For now, he plans to keep the CLS for another year. After that, it's a toss-up between buying another CLS or a Maserati Quattroporte.
Either way, he'll stick to the same slow pace on the road and save the fast riding for racing.
