Enter and sign please: Leaving mark with fans
SEP 13, 2013
Sebastian Saavedra says he goes with the flow of the Sharpie when fulfilling autograph requests.
“You start changing, doing some variations based on your mood,” the first-year Dragon Racing driver says. “Every helmet I’ve had is different; I try not to stay with the same identity. Why not the same with my signature?”
Full-field autograph/photo sessions – usually in the INDYCAR Fan Village -- are a part of every IZOD IndyCar Series race weekend, though the stars of the series are approachable just about any time they’re not on the track.
The 23-year-old native of Bogota, Colombia, says it’s a privilege and enjoys the rapport with fans even if it’s for a few seconds.
“I thank the fans for coming to the race,” Saavedra says. “Every weekend we go through at least a 200 stack before the autograph session starts. My record is 3 minutes to sign the stack. It’s all about practice.”
The photos on card stock are signed with his initials JSS.
“Few people know that my given name is Joan and I don’t use it at all,” he says. “A long time ago I started it.”
His full name, by the way, is Joan Sebastian Saavedra Ferreira.
Did you know that Marco Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Oriol Servia sign left-handed? So circle Aug. 13, 2014 -- Left-Hander’s Day – on your calendar to recognize a lefty you know.