Difference between revisions of "Anita Horford"

Latest revision as of 17:30, 23 March 2021

Anita Maria Horford (born 6 April 1983 in Augusta, Georgia) is an an American rapper and racing driver currently driving the Warsteiner Blokkmonsta Motorsport Aston Martin in the Rolex GTSS alongside Lasse Tilkesson. She is the daughter of 1976 Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One driver Bobby Horford.

Life and Musical Career

Anita Horford was born to Bobby and housewife Jackie Horford. Growing up in Spring Bluff, Georgia, Anita had little contact with her father as he pursued his Formula One career. Anita's first live experience with motor racing came at the 1986 Indianapolis 500, where her father suffered a fatal accident in his first outing at Indianapolis since 1979. He lost control of his Lola T86/00 through the final corner, hitting the wall in a way that launched him towards the pitlane. To avoid endangering people in the pitlane, Bobby tried to steer the car back on the track, unfortunately hitting the wall between pitlane and race track. The impact caused his car to explode, highly similar to the fatal accident Swede Savage had over a decade prior; resulting in fatal burns.

Despite their distant relationship, the accident severely impacted her psyche. In a 2018 interview, Horford claimed that the reaction of both adults and children around her made her feel "like an alien". With her father's fame, she struggled with "feelings of inadequacy" and felt a "need to be just as famous as he was". She soon found solace in hip hop, spending hours listening to the artists that would define the age of hip hop and trying to write texts herself.

In 1995, Horford was discovered by the music industry, Jive Records producing a pop rap album called Girl's Heaven, which was a commercial success, spending 18 weeks in the Billboard 200, peaking at 14th place. The album proved to be a one-hit wonder: Horford's second album Girl's Hell was commercially unsuccessful. In an attempt to diversify her image, Horford wrote about dealing with her father's death and first experiences of sexual harassment. Critics lambasted the texts as "self-pitying" and "edgy for the sake of being edgy". After further singles were commercial failures, Horford abandoned the music industry and finished her education at A. R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School, going on to become a laboratory worker.

In 2012, Horford reappeared on the eye of the music scene, having her first public concert in over 14 years at a charity event featuring one-hit wonders of the 90s and early 00s. After releasing a successful MP3 tribute album to her favourite rappers, Horford was signed on to do the main theme for the Best In The World-supported film What Is Délétraz Doing?.

Racing Career

As part of the production, she inquired with Kay Lon about supporting her in an attempt to start a motorsport career. Best in the World agreed on the condition that she would prove herself competitive in a minor series. Using some of the funds left over from her music career as well as funding provided by local companies, Horford financed a run in the F2000 Championship Series. She proved worthy of her roots, defeating and dethroning Tim Minor, despite having to miss the opening rounds of the season due to delayed sponsorship payment.

Keeping his promise, Lon provided her with a seat in F3RWRS. Unfortunately, this proved to be a step too big for the now 32-year old women. Her performance proved not very competitive, not helped by her inferior car. Horford was released from her F3RWRS duties after the US round. Kamaha picked her up, Barii Mori hoping to prove a point to his arch-nemesis Lon. After collecting a weekend ban in her first race for the Japanese team, she was released from duty, ending her open-wheel career.

For 2016, being removed from the BITW Support Group, she signed an agreement with the Astro Racing Group to take part in what proved to be the only season of SARS. Despite lacking prototype experience, she fared very well, helping her team score a win at the Spa event. She, together with co-drivers Leandro Moreira and former Marussia F1 driver Alexandre Prémat, finished the season in sixth place. After that, she returned to being a part of the BITW Support Group, being signed to drive one of the two BITW Lamborghini Murciealago R-GTs for 2017. Her most successful season came in 2017, when she won the independent trophy at the Round of Germany. After two years out of the series, she returned to drive for Blokkmonsta Motorsport.

Results

F3RWRS