Picture yourself in a sauna dressed for winter with a thick fur coat on. Then start working out - press-ups, sit-ups, weight training, jogging and mental gymnastics - and do it all for up to 24 hours. Could you last the distance?
Jono Lester tackles this challenge on a daily basis, as a professional racing driver on the world stage and down under. Throughout his career, he has competed all over the world driving the latest GT-spec Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche machines on a quest for glory and that elusive (and impossible) perfect lap.
Background
Jono is part of a New Zealand motoring dynasty. Third-generation racer with his early roots in the Manawatu grew up immersed in the sights and smells of high powered machinery in the pits of Manfeild - a circuit built and run by his grandparents and the scene of his very first race at just 13 years old.
With racing ‘in the blood’ and high octane fuel coursing through his veins, Jono progressed up the ranks with Porsche, becoming the world’s youngest winner and claiming a coveted Scholarship from the revered marque after winning a worldwide shootout of young drivers.
This springboard has taken the young Kiwi from Europe to the Middle East, to the USA and Japan, and downunder with the iconic Ferrari marque, winning races at speeds reaching 300km/hr.
His story hasn’t been without its setbacks. In a sport driven by money, Jono pushed past his modest financial upbringing to make an unlikely career through good old fashioned graft, Kiwi ingenuity and the passion and support of his family.
Bouncing back from a potentially career-ending accident in 2008, Jono has encountered significant personal and financial hurdles but hasn’t looked back on his quest for glory and his ultimate goal to one day race in the famous Le Mans 24 Hour race.
Current work 100% self-managed to this day, Jono is the master of his own destiny and manages the day-to-day life of a professional sportsman with the marketing, promotion and management of his career and brand. Jono Lester personifies the values we cherish as Kiwis, like a love of life, a refusal to conform and a freedom of thought and expression.
Gritty and tenacious; Jono attacks the racing circuit and the boardroom in the same way he attacks life, with breathless exuberance, nerves of titanium and a magnetic personality that takes audiences on a thrill ride they will never forget.
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Jono Lester
Jono Lester tackles challenges on a daily basis, as a professional endurance racing driver hurtling around the world’s race track in machines emblazoned with badges such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
