It’s a high pressure environment. One single mistake can undo all of the hard work before it. Success is defined by precision, composure and concentration, where decisions must be made quickly and accurately, and with little margin for error.
For rallying, see surgery.
Meet Dr Alexander Marmureanu – a man who’s made both a cornerstone of his very successful life.
“Motorsport and medicine/surgery are the two disciplines that have shaped me, and they’re more alike than people assume,” he says.
“Both demand absolute precision under pressure, total concentration, and the ability to make the right decision in a fraction of a second when the margins are tiny. The operating room and the cockpit ask the same things of you. One writer described the overlap between racing and surgery in my life, and I think that’s exactly right: they feed each other.”
Dr Alex's head belongs to surgery, but his heart bleeds for racing
Allow this writer to extend the comparison, in that case. If Alex’s head belongs to surgery, his heart bleeds for racing. Surgery keeps him busy during the day, but it’s racing that keeps him up at night.
“On a personal level, racing is where I feel most alive and most myself,” he continues. “It started in Romania as a young man and it has stayed with me across continents and across decades – through building a career and a heart-and-lung surgery practice in Los Angeles, it never left. It’s also given me a community: team-mates, engineers, coaches and legends of the sport who I’ve been lucky to learn from.
“And now it carries a responsibility I take seriously. As ambassador for the Romanian Motorsports Federation, representing my home country on the international stage is a real privilege – a way of bringing the two halves of my life, where I come from and what I’ve become, together on the podium.”
Alex’s love for our sport is clearest when he describes what made him fall in love with it.
“The smell of leaded fuel on a forest stage, the sound of a turbocharged engine on the limiter, the geometry and the exhaust flames of a car pitched sideways through the trees – that was my education as a driver, long before I ever saw a circuit,” he smiles.
Alex and Laura recently competed in the Tour de Corse Historique
Throughout his driving career, Alex has rallied both Group B and Group A machines at national and international level in Romania, but relocation to the United States, as he built his career as a cardiothoracic surgeon, led to plenty of circuit opportunities.
With a CV many professionals would envy, Alex has raced Le Mans prototypes, GT3 cars and classic cars at American’s biggest events like the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 25 Hours of Thunderhill. He’s even diversified into Pikes Peak, King of the Hammers, Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Baja 1000.
“But rallying has always been the thread running through all of it,” Alex says, “and in recent years I’ve gone back to my roots with historic events like the Mille Miglia, Tour Auto, Modena Cento Ore, Tour De Course Historique, and Goodwood. This past winter, I managed to win the Classic category at the F.A.T. Ice Race in Montana aboard a 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth Group 4 rally car in Big Sky, Montana.”
Evidently, he’s as handy wearing race gloves as he is his surgical gloves. So why would a driver with so much experience come to DirtFish Rally School?
It is a common misconception that DirtFish is only for learning the fundamentals. In reality, it is equally valuable for refining advanced driving skills. In Alex’s case, he wanted additional seat time in a purpose-built rally car before driving his exceptionally powerful and original Group B Audi Quattro at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, and then the Historic Tour de Corse earlier this month.
The F.A.T. Ice Race is one of the many events Alex has contested recently
“Gravel rally driving is its own language, and that’s exactly what I came to sharpen,” he explains.
“I have a 1983 Audi Quattro A1 Group B, the ‘Belga 2’ car that Marc Duez and Willy Lux raced in period. Returning a genuine Group B Quattro to the rally stage carries a responsibility to drive it properly and with the respect it deserves – exactly as it was intended. DirtFish is the ideal place in North America to sharpen those skills, refine car control, and prepare for the demands of driving such an important and powerful car.
“I’ve been through many of the great driving schools over the years – the Porsche Sport Driving School under Hurley Haywood, Formula 3 schools, Nürburgring, and others – and I wanted the rally-specific equivalent. DirtFish was the obvious choice.”
Alex and his wife, Laura, spent a day at DirtFish behind the wheel of a rear-wheel-drive Subaru BRZ.
“Preparing together for the events we will be tackling as a crew—including the Tour Auto, Modena Cento Ore, Tour de Corse Historique, and Goodwood Festival of Speed—made the experience even more special,” he says.
Alex learned lots by taking a class at DirtFish
They were equally captivated by the DirtFish scenery: a historic mill site in the Cascade foothills, with gravel, mud, and Tarmac stages all within the same property.
“We spent the day in the rear-wheel-drive Subaru BRZ, which is quite a fun rally car,” Alex added. “It exposes imprecise inputs, rewards smooth and committed driving, and is an excellent platform for refining throttle control and steering the car on the throttle.
“In the end, what truly made the experience, though, was the DirtFish team: Josie Rimmer, Nate Tennis and Brenton Kelly. We had a fantastic time with them as they all are outstanding drivers.
“Did it meet my expectations? It exceeded them. I came in thinking I’d polish a few things, and we both left with a huge smile on our faces. There is nothing in motorsport quite like the moment a car comes around under you exactly the way you asked it to, sideways, on the dirt!”
Alex plans to further translate that experience into his Audi, having thoroughly enjoyed his first events in the car.
“A lot is coming up for me in rallying, and I’m excited about it,” he shares. “The immediate goal was to do the Belga 2 justice on its first race under my custody at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and its Forest Rally Stage, which I think was the most fitting stage in the world to put a genuine Group B Quattro back in front of a global audience. I loved the experience and seeing so many passionate people take an interest in the car, which has left-field Group B appeal without the factory livery.
Alex went to DirtFish to do his Audi justice
“On the competition side, my historic-rally calendar is filling up. The one I’m really building towards is the 2027 Monte-Carlo Historique. As FRAS ambassador I want to fly the Romanian flag as high as I can on the international stage, and historic rallying is where my heart is right now.”
Alex brings rare commitment and energy to everything he takes on, and few would be more deserving of the success that lies ahead.
“Thank you to the whole DirtFish team – to Josie Rimmer, Nate Tennis and Brenton Kelly in particular – and to everyone who keeps that remarkable place running. You’ve built somewhere that takes the craft of rally driving seriously while making it genuinely joyful, and that combination is rare,” he concludes.
“Sharing the experience with my wife, Laura, made it especially meaningful and gave us a memory we will always carry with us.
“I am a cardiothoracic surgeon who began rallying in Communist-era Romania, and I came to DirtFish in Snoqualmie for one simple reason: to become a better and faster driver. That is one of the great truths of motorsport—you are never finished learning, and there is always another level to reach.
“If my story encourages even one person to experience a day on the dirt, that would mean a great deal to me. I will certainly be back.”
