Blind Former Racing Pilot Gets to Drive Again

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Una publicación compartida por Paradeportes (@paradeportes)

In the late 1990s, Roberto “Kaki” Rivas had a promising career in the world of racing. Having taken the first place at the TC Pista series on his freshman season, he made it to the highest category of Argentine motor racing, the Turismo Carretera, the following year. Sadly, he was shot when he was 24 years old, resulting in him becoming blind and not being able to drive anymore. Thanks to friends who knew that his love for racing never went away, he recently got the chance to get behind the wheel once more.

A couple of clips posted by Rivas to Instagram in December 2023 show the former racer getting on an off-road vehicle. Rivas gets inside in his own time, and promptly feels in his element once he's in the driver's seat. It's just Rivas, his friend, and the open landscape near Pinamar, Buenos Aires. Given the environment—a large expanse of sand dunes by the sea called La Frontera—it's clear that neither Rivas nor his friend are in any sort of danger.

“What do you think? Should I speed up?” Rivas cheekily asks in the caption of one of his videos. Despite being robbed of this thrill for decades, he considers himself lucky, as he only lost his sight when he was shot during a robbery in 1999. Bullet shards entered his eyes, causing his optic nerve to be severed.

“There is no such thing as a driver who has gone blind and returned to racing,” he said. “There is nothing worse for a driver than to lose his sight. I had this dream since I was a kid and I achieved the top, and boom, from one day to the next you go blind and you can't race anymore.” In 2015, he got to revisit one of the circuits where he competed with the help of a friend named Hugo Mazzacane.

While Rivas may have stepped away from racing, he remained in the realm of sports. Around 10 years ago, he pivoted to Paralympic tennis, attracted to the fact of it being a sport so reliant on sound and hearing. Now, he has even made it to the Argentinian national team. “The nice thing is to learn to master the technique, to represent Argentina, and to wear the shirt, I loved it,” Rivas told Infobae. “You have a goal to reach, a challenge. I set myself the goal of becoming world champion.”

Even after having been completely blind for a quarter of a century, he has high hopes that technology will help him see again one day, allowing him see his daughter's face for the first time. “It's been 24 years and today I still say: ‘At some point something will come along, something will be invented and my sight will probably come back.'”

When asked about how he feels about his current state, Rivas shares he's happier than he's ever been.”Now I am happy with little. Sitting in my little park, drinking mate, feeling the birds, the grass, the sun that hits me, nothing, nature, what life gives me, the simple things,” he says. “I used to ride a Ferrari on the street, I would go at 300 kilometers per hour, I would go flat out, I would see the advertisements, the races, the sponsors, the business, and really, did I enjoy life? Did I enjoy the moment? I don't know, I doubt it.”