As proud sponsors of Riding Strikers for the Sports Car Championship Canada 2023 season, we talk to founder and driver Marc Lafleur about how his extraordinary business career led him to motor racing at the age of 31.
Racing to new heights
Success is hard to quantify, but becoming the first black CEO on the cover of Canada’s Globe & Mail, appearing on CBS’s Dragon’s Den, signing a Forbes book deal and securing the multimillion-dollar sale of your company by the age of 30 is undoubtedly impressive.
Born in Cornwall, Ontario, Marc Lafleur came from humble beginnings. He remembers attending high school with holes in his shoes and, by his own admission, struggling academically. Fast-forward more than a decade and he’s not only achieved all of the above, but now drives in the Sports Car Championship Canada for his own racing brand, sponsored by world-renowned names including Air Charter Service.
It’s lights out and away we go!
“We never had a car when I was growing up,” says Marc. “I had amazing parents who gave me everything they could, but we didn’t have a tonne of money. I think that’s a big part of what fuelled my obsession with cars.
“I wasn’t really expected to graduate high school, let alone university! But at some point, I managed to turn things around, and went on to build a successful food delivery platform called truLOCAL. After five years, the company was acquired for $16.7 million, so I finally had the cash to take a chance and double down on my passion.”
Changing careers in your thirties is daunting enough, but striving to compete with drivers who have been perfecting their trade since they were teenagers is a monumental task. But, Marc is a maverick with a need for speed, and quickly launched the Riding Strikers racing brand and purchased his first race car.
“I bought a black 2004 BMW E46 M3 in 2021 and began practising. I told myself I’d treat it like a business, not a hobby; if I progressed faster than other people in their first year, I’d invest again and fund a race season. I had a really good first year of practice, which spurred me on to pull the proverbial trigger.”
Marc has encountered naysayers throughout his education and career, and it’s safe to say he faced plenty of sceptics in the racing community.
“I pretty much got laughed out of the room when I told people I was joining the semi-pro series with only one year of experience at the age of 31. Not only were we competing with far more experienced drivers and teams, but our car was very underpowered compared to the rest of the field.
“We worked our butts off and ended up winning the entire 2022 CASC Pirelli Sprint Championship, plus I received the Class Champion and Rookie of the Year awards. That gave us the springboard to go pro in 2023.”
Away from the track
It’s not all about racing at Riding Strikers. Marc runs the brand as a business and, like most organisations, it relies on funding to progress. As an already successful entrepreneur, Marc knew the model had to stand out from the crowd in order to succeed.
“Riding Strikers isn’t a team like Formula One’s Ferrari or Red Bull Racing. It’s a brand and we race for a team called VPX Racing, which owns the Mercedes AMG-GT4 I drive on the track. We’re not necessarily about the car or the race track, but the person driving.
“In this sport, drivers are usually exclusively focused on racing and don’t spend a lot of time concentrating on the business side of things. That’s where I thought we could be different. If our drivers could do an amazing job of bringing in fans, partners and other drivers, then we’d be in a unique position to add value to the sport and our partners.”
Air Charter Service sponsored Riding Strikers for several races in the 2023 season and, as Marc explains, it was a winning combination from the first race to the last.
“I’m always careful about who we team up with, but when I heard about the opportunity to partner with Air Charter Service – a company that prides itself on delivering service beyond expectations – I was very excited. They’re one of the world’s largest air charter brokerages and have been in operation for as long as I’ve been on this earth! So to have such a prestigious name on the car was a great moment for all of us.”
After building his own businesses from the ground up, Lafleur makes a point of giving back and helping fellow entrepreneurs. In 2020, the truLOCAL Equal Opportunity Business Grant awarded $5,000 each to several black-owned and black-founded companies. He then set up the Ultimate First Time Founder Business Grant in 2022, which gave over $50,000 worth of support to Canadian bubble tea protein startup Chakra Nutrition.
Marc has also published his first book with Forbes, entitled “True Founder: What No One Else Has The Guts To Teach You About Starting Your First Business”, and delivers motivational speeches at schools and universities in North America discussing how anyone can achieve their ambitions.
“Whether it’s entrepreneurship, business or race car driving, I want to inspire others and show you don’t need a silver spoon to chase your dreams. My passion is working with the next generation of entrepreneurs, letting black and minority entrepreneurs know that we don’t just deserve a seat at the table, the table was made for us.”
On the home straight
From rubbing shoulders with F1 legends to clinching more podium finishes, 2023 has been another successful year both on and off the track for Marc and Riding Strikers.
“We’ve had a wild ride this year. Away from the circuit, I’ve travelled the country doing interviews and got to sit with Lewis Hamilton on a panel show. On the track, the pro series has been tougher, but we finished on the podium in the first three races of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
“At Honda Indy Toronto we had a big spin on Turn 1 during the second lap and were unable to finish. There have also been races where I couldn’t drive this season, but other drivers have stepped up to the plate, like Nick Galante, who is raising awareness of Alzheimer's.”
As ACS’s sponsorship comes to an end, what’s next for Marc and Riding Strikers? And will he be booking a private jet charter any time soon?
“Over the next five years, I want to get enough experience that we can complete a full IMSA SportsCar Championship season. We have a long way to go, but I think we can do it.
“Before then, I’m trying to get a few of the guys together so we can go to Las Vegas for the Grand Prix. And you can’t do a trip to Vegas without flying by private jet!”