My first week of school was very good and exciting! I noticed very quickly that my new lifestyle is definitely very different now, good and bad. The three biggest differences are the adrenaline level is sure not that high!! There’s a lot of sitting, listening and reading not really comparable to drive race cars!! Now when the adrenaline level is not that high that transfers over till your blood suger level, have to keep it up. The third is time management, very important to keep track of everything and be effective. I’m not used to everything yet but all my professor keeps me very busy with assignments, quiz, tests etc. But I do enjoy all my classes like Business, Accounting, Psychology etc!

Past weekend was a holiday weekend, Labor weekend! So couple of friends and I packed the car and went to the Delta for BBQ’ing, wake boarding, tubing, jet skiing etc. Tons of fun!!! Now back to Silicon Valley again to try to get a lot of school work done because there will be more adventure this coming weekend…!

This Monday I starting my 4 years American University Business Degree! 

I decided to complement my racing carrier with this education because 90% of being a race car driver is just -Business. Working with your partners, car manufactures, developing B2B relationships, marketing strategies, media and so on. I’m very excited about this additional complement and also study and living in Silicon Valley. I’ll be attending West Valley College and then transfer to one of the top US business schools. I’ll still be racing but not to the same extents and in one way I’m looking forward to actually have “normal routines” !

6 months ago I got in contact with people and companies/firms in private equity and in the clean technology industry. Those two elements are the future of the racing industry and I’m feeling very fortune to be able to study and living in the Mecca of all of it. It feels great that I already have great connection in all three of these industries. And of course now only having 1hr of drive to Infineon Raceway and Laguna Seca, two of the best racing tracks in the world !

All this happened very fast and I’ve worked very hard with a lot of help to already start this semester. I didn’t want to make this official until everything was set in stone. The only thing I’ve been saying is after this summer I’ll turn a page to a new chapter! But a good friend of mine said you’re not on your next chapter – You’re already on your next book ! So I guess I’ll call this book for “It doesn’t matter where you start -It’s where you Finish! ”
 

My friend whom just finished off his internship at one of the major software companies in Silicon Valley invited me on a road trip! To take a little get away before the summer is officially over and it’s time to get back to business! We met up with two more and went first to Santa Cruz for the weekend. Then drove down on Pacific Coast Highway all the way to Hollywood, Los Angeles.

The following day all of us decided on a impulsive trip to Catalina Island. One hour ferry west from Long Beach we arrived to a paradise!! I’m not sure how to explained it but I guess a mix of Hawaii and the Italian Coast! Two great days of snorkeling, white beaches, walking and just hang out with each other!! When we got back to the mainland all of us drove the 101 down to San Diego. I’ve heard so much great about San Diego so I was definitely excited for this destination. The first night we spent in Downtown/Gaslamb and the next day was all about the beach. All of us were very pleased and could see us living here one day! This was a great trip and this coming Monday is back to business again. Even a new chapter of my life will be starting…. !?!  

I’m now back in California after a 14hrs long flight! I flew for the second time the Airbus A380 and I’ve to say…it’s the best commercial airplane out there! I had no relaxing at all coming back to California, I had a meeting right away, picked up my car and met a group of friends for dinner, all this in 34hrs! Two days later I got invited to Infineon Raceway where go-kart was on the schedule ! One big news is that I’m moving to Silicon Valley, 35mins south of San Francisco. I’m moving there for several reasons but the main one is that I love the entrepreneurial spirit/vibe there! The summer temperature in Sweden was decent this years so on my first day back in California I almost faded to go from 70F/20C to over 100F/40C !

My one month in Sweden was absolutely perfect and a good get away! It’s over a year ago I saw my family and friends so just that was worth the trip! Otherwise It’s a busy summer with work, racing and a lot planning and preparation for my return to the states! But on my last weekend my friends and I borrow my parents RV to do a road trip up north. It’s great to see some Sweden and just relax, BBQ, play golf and hang out! Sweden has a lot to offer, especially the food !! I’m not sure yet when my next trip back will be. Might celebrate a white Christmas in Sweden or maybe my parents will visit me !?!

First and foremost I’ve to say -Hi, I’m still alive ! No excuses, but the last three weeks have been pretty chaotic. There will be a big news in August and all the preparation had to be done before I go to Sweden this summer. But here’s a fast summary; I got Invited to meet and listen to Artemis Racing, a Swedish sailing team in American Cup World Series. They run a very impressive operation and it’s fun to see how similar it’s to the racing industry!

Then it’s Memorial Day here in the US, to honor and remember men and women in uniforms. My friends and I went to the Delta to relax, BBQ, took the boat out, tubing and of course eat a lot of watermelon!

My friend got some baby ducks, fun experience to see the whole process from a tiny egg, to hatching, to see a happy little fluffy duck running around!

Friday night was all about 0.5 mile oval track and NASCAR, which resulted with mix feelings, fun though!

A pleasant visit at a McLaren dealership!

Two days ago I got invited to an Electric Vehicle Technology & Infrastructure seminar in San Francisco, very interesting, especially regarding the infrastructure! Also Tesla was there and I said couple of weeks ago how impressed I got by there products and company. Now I’m even more impressed!! Right after the seminar I jumped in my car to hurry to east of Silicon Valley where I got invited to an endurance go-kart race! Missed the practice and barely had time to tie my shoestring before It’s green flag! It’s crazy not knowing if turn 2 is a left or a right one plus to figure out the kart, the grip etc. Long story short; 2hrs later, no skin left on my back, sore rips but we took the kart from 14th to 5th place! Pretty good and a lot of fun!

Ferrari-time again! But this time at Laguna Seca Raceway!! It’s a pretty similar race weekend for us this time, except this time a very good looking Ferrari was out there, designed in the Swedish flag, beautiful!!! The open practice on Friday went great and Laguna is such a fun track! The corkscrew and a new cool feature this year is you can see your live speed on different parts of the track while you’re driving! In the middle of the front straightaway we did 131mph / 211km/h but the Ferrari Formula 1 car did amazingly 171mph / 275km/h, not sure exactly what his top speed was though. I do know he was 30secs per lap faster than the 458 Challenge car!! There were some amazing cars showing up to the track like the Ferrari F50 GT1, 1 of 3 in the world. The new McLaren MP12-4c, Ferrari FXX and of course a personal nostalgia for me to see a Renault 5 Turbo. My first race car was one of those

We stayed at this great golf resort, Hyatt. None of us are great golfers so after a hard workout session at the gym in the morning. We had an internal race with some golf carts around the golf court and Team Sweden won!!! After the extra driving session we continued our great testing at the racetrack! After two long days at the race track I drove all the way up to Chico College because my friend Viktor graduated!!! Viktor and I raced NASCAR together and been great friends for couple of years now so it’s great fun to celebrate with his family and friends! On Sunday we were a group of friends tubing at this great river with a nice stream that made us flowing in the most relaxing state of mind I ever experience! I highly recommend it if you get a chance!

After the Ferrari event I went to Silicon Valley for a business networking event and also to an interesting seminar. It’s a great evening and I met a lot of interesting/smart people. I’ve had an idea of a new partnership model for a while that might fit the motorsport industry and after the event I felt very excited and confident about it. So the following week I spent some time researching, I still do and after this summer some major changes might happened !?! The summer is coming up and I start looking into how I will spend it. The second half of the week I prepared for the American Le Mans weekend at Laguna Seca! After the race my friend and I went to Santa Cruz to just relax on the beach, it was much needed !

This past weekend started of not bad at all by attending to a Ferrari event that included 458 Challenge cars, 599XX race cars, a Ferrari Formula 1 car from 2003, a Ferrari valued to $6million, Ducatis and much more. It’s fun to see some familiar faces from the last time I did a Ferrari event but the high point was to hear and watch the Formula 1 car on the track – Amazing!

Sunday wasn’t a bad day either after we decided after breakfast to head down to Silicon Valley, just south of San Francisco. Where we visit couple of venture capital firms and then went for a great lunch at the famous Santana Row in San Jose. Also looked a little bit around the area to see if it could be a potential residence for the future. But before we went back we stopped by at Tesla Motors showroom where they displayed their new Model S. I’ve to say; I was really impressed about the car and to listen to the company’s future. Last year I test drove the Roadster in Las Vegas on a race track and was impressed by that experience! I can go on and on but this is where the future is heading. The Model S is a great handling five-seater luxury sedan with numbers like 300miles of battery range, 0-60mph in 4.4secs, luggage space twice as much of a Chevrolet Tahoe and a lot of extra feature at a starting price at $50,000 is impressive!

When I come back from my trip from Los Angeles and the race track, it’s been very intense. It’s always important to follow up but still keep working on the ongoing projects. When it’s time for the weekend I had a great surprised/relaxed day around San Francisco just hanging out. Had a great lunch right next to the water in Sausalito, across of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was really a summer weather so ice cream was of course mandatory! We also met this random parrot on the street!? then went to the beach and an art museum, had a little more food and suddenly it’s late and dark outside. These relaxing, spontaneous days are just the best! On Sunday we went on a long hike and did some swimming!
I kept up the follow week with intense work and on Wednesday I met this man who was curious if I was from Scandinavia. I said –Yes, Sweden. He then told me he got invited to go to Sweden the end of this summer to visit the Koengsegg factory!! Very random and we had a long conversation about the supercar manufacture and everything else regarding Sweden! The other day I bought an audio book of Steve Jobs biography. I have been thinking of buying the book for a while but realize listen to it when I’m driving is much better than just listen to the radio. I do find it very interesting so far…!