Getting the message out – racetrack style
Using an old warhorse to get the Get Checked message outLook familiar? Long-standing carsales readers might recognise this unassuming Skoda Octavia wagon as the very same wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing vehicle campaigned by Editor-in Chief Sinclair to a class podium at Targa Tasmania in 2011.
Now the so-called Skoda Octavia RS-P is in the ownership of Mt Gambier enthusiast, Peter Gandolfi, who is using the ex-tarmac rally car as a racetrack billboard for prostate cancer awareness.
Recovery rates from prostate cancer are encouraging as long as the disease is diagnosed and treated earlier, hence the message emblazoned on the RS-P: Get Checked.
Said Peter in a note to carsales HQ: “The Skoda performed outstandingly at a track day at The Bend last Saturday. Preparation was not much more than a change of fluids, brake rotors and pads. Rounded up a few other cars during the morning including Evos and V8 Commodores – not complaining given it’s a family wagon!
“It’s taken a little bit of driving style adjustment as it is the first FWD I have driven on a track, but I love the DSG coming out of corners. It is an extremely well-built tarmac rally car and, at the end of the day, I drove it 300km back home again.”
A prostate cancer survivor, Peter is a strong advocate for encouraging men to get checked.
“At 55, without any signs or symptoms, a PSA [Prostate Specific Antigen] blood test picked up that I may have had prostate cancer. This was confirmed shortly after following a biopsy. Without this simple blood test I would have been in a world of trouble in years to come.
Peter added: “Motorsport offers the opportunity to promote the message as the vast majority of participants are men. My message to all blokes aged 40 years and more is: Get Checked.”
High-profile motorsport identities Neil Crompton and John Bowe have both been similarly diagnosed and successfully treated for prostate cancer in recent years.
More information on prostate cancer can be found via the Prostate Cancer Foundation website.
Related: Mission accomplished for Team Skoda carsales
Related: Skoda Octavia RS-P
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