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All Raged Out?

Our man Phil Inname happened to be in Adelaide for the finale of the F3 Oceania series. He filed this report:

PI: I walked into the Rage garage an hour after the race and found Trevor Harvey and Brandon Knight in a group with some of the mechanics and engineers. On the other side of the garage, alone, Drummond Bennett was still sitting in the cockpit of his #11 Rage car. I gave Harvey and Knight a "What gives?" gesture with a nod toward Bennett. Two returned shrugs later I was sitting on Bennett's sidepod.

PI: "Is this your F3 car? What a piece of junk!"
DB: She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.
PI: "Oh ok, So what's up, Drumster? Princess Leia un-friend you?"

DB: "I love doing this. Racing. Rage." Shaking his head slowly. "The whole life."

PI: "Don't forget the fans."

DB: "They've been great."

PI: "I gotta to say, you don't have the look of a man who has it all."

DB: "You know I turned 26?"

PI: "I hated to miss that party. I was in New Hampshire. Happy Birthday!"

DB: "Thanks. It really got me thinking."

PI: "A bit early for a mid-life crisis."

DB: "I guess that's as good a description as any. Racing is my life. I started Rage as the veteran, and we've been keeping pace with each other for two seasons now, and I can still match all them. But recently I noticed I'm taking more risks to compete, and that's a worry. I know I've crossed the line from aggressive to dangerous a few times. Today I got loose in the Mistral Hairpin, and was almost too slow to avoid eating the wall."

PI: "You've had a lot of great races this year. Are you sure it's not just off-season blues?"

DB: "I could lie to myself, Phil. But I race these kids all year long, and it's clear that they are going to be leaving me behind in a season or two. Number don't lie: Knight is 20, Wayne and Vos are 21, Wheeler's 22. Harvey and I are the old men at 26. I've noticed a dropoff in my training already since my birthday. The older guys tell me it only gets worse."

PI: "You've recently moved into the top-10 ranked drivers in the UK. You've got plenty of upside."

DB: "Here's the thing. I've been racing my kid brother forever. And he's way ahead of where I was at 17. He wants his shot and I want him to have the best chance possible. And a team like Rage really will give him that extra edge you need in this sport. I realize this is important to me. So I'm going to step down as a driver, and make room for him on the team. I've already called Uncle Armbrister and told him earmark this year's donation for Murdoch."

PI: Wow, so that's it, you're retiring from racing?

DB: For me its right. This time is right, before I start to fall behind these guys. And I won't be far away, I will be staying on to mentor Murdy and these monkeys still need a hand at pitstops!