Why Kleinubing Traded Horses for Horsepower

Subtitle:Compass360 Racing Audi Driver Remains Active In Equestrian Competition

As a youngster, Pierre Kleinubing dreamed of horsepower – as in single-horse competition.

With his father and grandfather involved in raising horses, Kleinubing wanted to race thoroughbreds while growing up in Brazil. But nature intervened. It was soon apparent that he was growing far too big to become a jockey, so he exchanged his aspirations from four hoofs to four wheels.

Today, Kleinubing has 500 times the horsepower of his dreams when he straps into the No. 76 Compass360 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi R8 LMS in TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition.

“I wanted to be a jockey when I was very little, but I figured out quickly that I would be too big – too heavy – to be a jockey,” Kleinubing said.

“I raced a few horses when I was very young – I still had the weight then,” Kleinubing recalled. “It was at a lower level – my dad wouldn’t let me race the ones that were very good. But horses are too sensitive in their legs, so you don’t want to put any extra weight on them.”

In addition to owning race horses, his father also owned car dealerships – so the quickly growing Kleinubing turned his aspirations in that direction. At the age of 12, he began racing karts, winning three championships in his native Brazil. He turned cars at 16, winning a pair of national touring car titles.

Kleinubing relocated to Coconut Creek, Florida when he was 20, and soon began competing in the World Challenge – winning five championships and 29 races. He made his Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge debut in 2006 with Classic BMW-Plano, and moved to i-Moto in 2010.

Kleinubing won the Street Tuner (ST) title in 2012, winning the Daytona International Speedway opener and Lime Rock Park finale. He joined Compass360 for the final eight races of 2014, with his best finish third at Road America. After racing a Subaru in Grand Sport (GS), Kleinubing and co-driver Ray Mason switched to an Audi R8 LMS in the TUDOR Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class, debuting at Lime Rock Park.

Established in motorsports, Kleinubing hadn’t forgotten about racing horses, and re-entered the sport – only this time as an owner, not a jockey.  He bought his first race horse in 2009, and now has a small stable of four horses at Gulfstream Park in Aventura – a half-hour south of Coconut Creek.

He visits Gulfstream Park every morning at 5 a.m. when he’s in town to watch his horses train. He occasionally rides – but not on his race horses.

“I weigh 180, but to be a jockey, you have to be 100 pounds,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to lose 80 pounds! Maybe I can race a rhino – or an elephant!”

Adding a fourth generation to the mix, Kleinubing often attends the races with his daughter, in addition to his father.

“It’s a family thing we’ve been doing for many years,” Kleinubing said.

One big difference between the two forms of racing is that it’s much easier to buy a race car than a horse – where you don’t always know what you’re getting.

“This is a very difficult sport,” he explained. You just don’t go to the dealership and buy an (Audi) R8. You might think you’re buying an (Audi) S3, and wind up with an R8 – or vice versa. That’s what allows little guys like me to stay in the game.”