The Individual Races Series, a great success

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The Individual Race Series, a competition which follows the regulations of an uphill time trial, had a very successful opening round. This initiative aroused with the aim of making uphill race drivers have a cheap on-track racing experience. The race is contested at the end of the official uphill racing season and offers all those racers who don’t want to garage their car, the opportunity to keep on racing.

39 cars took part in the race, which started with a one-by-one-start. There was a one-minute-break between each start. The race’s winner was Mauro Rampini, who was at the wheel of a very performing Osella-BMW 3.0 car. Rampini is a regular uphill race driver “It’s a very good initiative. You have fun in a safe context and costs are very low. Other races like that will be more than welcome.”

Gian Carlo Minardi was in Magione, too, as the President of the C.S.A.I. Speed sub-committee: “I’m really satisfied with the race. It was an amazing show, which got consent from everywhere. Both teams and drivers were very satisfied with that and they all hope that it will turn into a reality. I want to thank the Magione racetrack’s director Mr. Ezio Sisti for supporting this initiative and arranging the event only within a three weeks’ time”, says Minardi, the event creator, “My intention is to establish a Trofeo for the winter season, during which teams and drivers’ racing activity is usually off. Getting round the “Mario Umberto Borzacchini” circuit, I could observe the participants’ behavior during the race. They made progressions throughout the laps they ran. The mountain’s hidden dangers usually don’t allow drivers neither to express all their potential nor to get the most of their cars’ potential; these two aspects can be well developed on a racetrack. Some problems came up and we have to solve them for the future, however, since it’s a brand new initiative, it is quite normal for it to be like that. The Individual Races Series could be a great opportunity also for those young drivers who have limited financial resources”, ends Minardi.  

Bhai Tech “A wonderful season between the GP2 and the GT Open”

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With the event which took place at the Barcelona circuit, Bhai Tech Racing, the racing division of the Mestrino-based Advanced Vehicle Science Centre, which was inaugurated more than one year ago by Pastor Maldonado, won the first International GT Open Championship’s title with the two McLaren MP4-12C. Along with the teams’ title, the squad’s driver Giorgio Pantano also won the drivers title. The Padua-born driver who made his debut in a GT Championship, kept all his rivals behind: “It’s not bad to win the teams and drivers title the first time you take part in a GT Championship. It was a new experience for us and for our engineers”, comments Bhai Tech’s President Mr. Ferdinando Bada “we made some mistakes, but we were good at improving race by race. The overall win we took in Monza was the peak of our racing season, along with the last few laps at Montmelò. We really deserved to win.”

It was a big success also for the “virtual simulation”. You have a state of the art driving simulator and software inside your headquarter. How much does virtual simulation get close to reality?

Around 95%.This percentage comes from a comparison between all the data we gathered from the GP2 Dallara.

The Driving Simulator allows you to make indoor tests, without having to move to the track, so you save money and time and give drivers the opportunity to practice those tracks they will race on and the staff has the opportunity to undertake some development tests. How much money does a team save?

 We save up to one quarter if we compare an on-track test and a test using the driving simulator. Another advantage is that you can practice whenever you want, refine details such as braking and undertake set-up tests. All that is done on track can be also done using the driving simulator and the modeling software. Some drivers told us that, after a three-four days training session using our simulator, their on-track performances in a very demanding Championship such as GP2, improved significantly.

Talking about GP2, this year you’ve been engaged in this Championship alongside the Racing Engineering Team

 As Bhai Tech, we’ve offered a technical support to the Race Engineering Team. We’ve provided the team with simulation training and on-track assistance by employing our engineers. We’ve been very satisfied with the results, as the team won the GP2 title. That is another big success to be added to the two GT Open titles.

What are your plans for the 2014 racing season?

We have two options at the moment: GT Open and FIA GT. We should have our plan defined in about one month, as we’re waiting for a confirmation from one of our most important sponsors. The FIA GT Championship would be our main choice, as it’s a kind of technical championship, but obviously, we want to pay attention to our sponsors’ needs.

The world economic situation is not that good now. What’s the main problem a racing team or companies like yours have to deal with now?

The whole world is undergoing a serious financial crisis, so there is a lack of resources to support Sport in general, not only Motorsport. Nowadays even nonprofessional sport activities have trouble finding financial support  – small football teams who bring happiness to local communities, don’t even manage to find 10-15000 euros to support the season – let alone Motorsport, whose financial needs are much higher.

To be honest, you would expect institutions to pay more attention to a field which involves many employees; more than 150.000 people are employed in the motorsport field. Some legislative bills introduced by the government when Monti was the prime minister, have further reduced the possibility for companies to support Sport financially, and so the amount of financial resources to be devoted to sport has significantly decreased.

The Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre has celebrated its first anniversary this year. What are your goals for the upcoming years?

Our main goal is to cooperate side by side with car companies. It’s clear that you have to prove who you are and what you’re able to do. We’re still very young, but we’re progressing so much. We’re successfully cooperating with the F.1 McLaren. It’s our most important partner from a technological point of view. Probably next year our “F.1 Family” will further expand. I am confident in that.

In the past you took part in the F.3000 and in the GP2 Championships with your own team.  You scored wins and won titles. Is there a chance that you compete in a Formula Championship again?

We don’t rule out any possibility. We should have our program defined in about one month, and then we’ll be ready to make our announcements. The Formula “chapter” isn’t closed, for sure.

….What drove you to leave Formula and focus on GT Competition?

Nothing in particular, just the will to meet new challenges. After dealing with Formula cars for such a long time, I decided to focus on covered-wheels, as I find them so exciting. Even if we’re not involved in Formula competitions as a team, we continue to work on single-seaters through our driving simulator, which is a very useful device, as it gives a driver the opportunity to progress. In a demanding championship such as the GP2, the time gap is within few thousands of a second. This is the reason why details can really make a difference. Through driving simulation we can analyze a driver’s behavior, understand his mistakes and help him progress.

 

Rigon scored a success in Shanghai

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After taking the second place at Interlagos and the fourth in a rainy Fuji, Davide Rigon sealed his first win in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The talented driver from Vicenza, who is at the Scuderia Ferrari’s disposal, crossed the line first at the wheel of the 8Star Motorsport’s Ferrari 458 GTE he shared with Enzo Potolicchio and Rui Aguas.

It was a strongly desired win, taken at the end of a very successful race week end. During free practice the Ferrari #81 set the best time and set the third best time in qualifying, arriving just a few thousands behind the pole. Rigon set the pace, handling a perfect race. He set the best laptime and scored a great success for the Scuderia.

“It was a perfect week end. We demonstrated our good condition since free practice and we missed the pole just for a few thousands. We did our best during the race and, after taking control of the car in the last stint, I pushed hard and set the best laptime. I closed the gap and won the race”, says Davde Rigon “Even if the Astons hadn’t abandoned, I’m sure we would have won the race all the same. We set excellent times all through the race and I always kept a very good pace. It’s an all team’s success. I established a very good connection with Enzo, Rui and all the team’s staff, so this helped to score important success such the one we scored in Shanghai”, says the Minardi Management’s driver.  Thanks to this success, 8Star Motorsport Team’s gap with the GTE AM-class leader drops down to only 5 points. The last Bahrein round will be the decisive one.

The Far East keeps on winking at Davide, who can add this victory to his career. In 2008 he brought the Beijing Guoan Team to success in the Superleague Formula Championship.

GP USA – Preview

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Among the new generation’s circuit, the Austin raceway is the most interesting one from a technical point of view. Temperatures are expected to be lower than usual, so Pirelli’s choice to bring hard and medium tires to the USA, could cause some problems to some teams, Ferrari included. Some constructors are challenging each other to get the title, just like the Maranello-based Scuderia, which wants to close the gap with Mercedes and Lotus will try to go over the Italian squad’s head. Kimi’s abandon before the end of the Championship – I do agree with his choice to undertake surgery for not jeopardizing next season – and, above all, Lotus’s choice could make it difficult for the English team to get the third place.

The struggle between McLaren and Force India to get the fifth place is also remarkable. Everything seemed to be said and done until some race ago, however, Di Resta and Sutil’s performances over the last few GP made the team score 15 points. Now the point-gap with its main rival is only 18 points, so everything can still happen. The change Perez-Magnussen could break up the team’s calm and work to the advantage of the squad owned by Vijay Mallya.

The Austin race week end will be very important also for the unrest which rings around the drivers market not only for what concerning next season, but also for the 2015 season. It’s a long time since the market was so dynamic and we can say that it’s a kind of crazy. But, let’s do things in an orderly fashion:

– After seeing how the land lies about Maldonado, Hulkenberg and Schumacher, Lotus relied on Kovalainen, leaving “empty-handed” its third driver Valsecchi. The team’s choice has to make everyone think, especially those guys who are all set to sign a contract as a third driver, without having any guarantee. The Lotus management has preferred to rely on an experienced driver, even if he hasn’t raced for some time, rather than relying on a young driver who has worked with the team for one season and has demonstrated to be able to be very performing. I think that the blame has to be placed on regulations. I find regulations really stupid, as they don’t allow young drivers to show their skills and gain experience. I don’t agree with this choice and I’m so disappointed with that.

– Magnussen will join McLaren. The Danish driver will replace Perez. The Mexican has been criticized many times, even if he has demonstrated to be a skilled driver and, in some cases, to be even more performing than Jenson Button. I think that the team’s choice has to be interpreted as a strategy for the 2015 season (cooperation with Honda), rather than as Perez’s rejection.

At this point, many negotiations will be driven behind the scenes. There are two drivers such as Perez and Maldonado who are “unemployed”, despite they can rely on a millionaire support. Pastor is aiming at becoming a Lotus driver, while Perez could wink at Force India or Sauber, to the “Hulk” detriment. The German driver can remain at Sauber thanks to Ferrari’s support.

Two very important GP are yet to be raced to complete the 2014 season’s puzzle.

Bhai Tech and Pantano on the roof of Europe

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The International GT Open Championship’s finale couldn’t be better for the Bhai Tech Racing Team, who got the better over rivals at the Barcelona circuit by winning the GTS title, bringing home the first cup.

The Mestrino-based Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s racing team, who made his debut in the International GT Open Championship and in the GT competitions this year, has constantly improved his performances time after time, delivering excellent races, such as in Monza, where the team took his first win overall, at the Nuerburgring, where the team sealed two wins and at Silverstone, McLaren’s hometown, where Bhai Tech Racing delivered a successful race again. It was a seven months long season, competed through 16 races and hard fought until the last two corners in the Catalan challenge’s second round. It was a heart-taking finale, which made everyone hold his breath. Giorgio Pantano took the drivers’ title and completed a perfect week end for the Italian team. The Padua-born champion, who made his debut in the GT competition this year and paired off with the Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente, launched the crucial attack by making a spectacular manoeuvre in the last few laps, taking the third place overall. Luiz Razia and Chris Van Der Drift, who were at the wheel of the second McLaren MP4-12C, finished fifth, giving the English constructor the second place in the Championship.

“It’s a win to be shared with the staff and the drivers. A particular thanks to the owners who made all the needed resources available to us and McLaren. We’re proud to have paid them off with this important result”, says the Engineer Mr. Costa, “It was a very intense week end, rich in emotions. It was also a very intense season which ended only in the last corners. We’ve always been aware of our potential and we’ve never let misfortune get us down. Races and championships end only after the chequeredflag is deployed on Sunday. Even after Saturday’s race we continued to work only relying on our resources, we never looked to anyone else. We were constantly among the fastest on track. Giorgio did a good job; during his stint he bridged the gap to get the title, making excellent manoeuvres. Alvaro Parente completed the puzzle. He knows the car very well, so he gave his precious contribution. Luiz and Chris helped the team to reach this important goal”, says the technical director.

“I’m really happy. It was an excellent result achieved at the end of a very intense week end. Taking the title at the last two corners is something indescribable, especially because it was my first season in a GT competition. Congrats to the team on an excellent job!” comments Giorgio Pantano.

Bhai Tech’s victory means also a great success for the virtual race simulation. In addition to on-track testing, the team also worked hard inside the Bhai Tech headquarter’s simulation suite which hosts the driving simulator facility. It’s a full-motion 6-DOF facility, which is fully immersive with a 8 m 210° diameter curved screen, five off-board projectors, two rear view visuals and a modeling software. This is a clear proof of how much this technology is important not only for Formula 1. See you in the 2014!

Rigon to Shanghai for the FIA WEC thinking about the 2014 season

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Davide’s adventure in the FIA WEC Championship goes on. The Italian driver will race alongside the 8Star Team, at the wheel of a Ferrari 458 GT2. After taking part in the races at Interlagos and Fuji, the talented driver, who is at the Scuderia Ferrari’s disposal, will fly to China this week end to take part in the 6 Hours of Shanghai, which is the world championship’s last but one event.

Davide will put all his talent to the 8Star Motorsport Team’s disposal, to help the Italian squad win the class title, trying to replicate the results achieved in the International GT Open Championship alongside Andrea Montermini and the Villorba Corse racing team. “Competing in a world championship is always so exciting; having the opportunity to drive a Ferrari is even more exciting. Unfortunately the event at Fuji was cancelled because of bad weather, so I hope in China everything will work out for the best. It will be the third event I’m taking part in and I hope to help the team win the title”, says Davide Rigon “Me and the staff get along so well, so this makes everything easier. It won’t be an easy week end, as I’m not familiar with the Chinese racetrack, but I’ll do my best, as usual, to try to reach our goal. It’s an important challenge and all participants are high-level drivers. Competing against them it’s a great opportunity to grow.”

Davide will make his return to China, the country where he won the Superleague Formula Championship in 2008 alongside the Beijing Guoan team: “It’s a pleasure for me to remember the 4 days I spent in Beijing. On that occasion a great party was arranged and Chinese people welcomed us in a warm way. They really made me feel at home, so it’s always a pleasure for me to go there. I hope to see many fans attending the event.”

Bhai Tech ready for the Barcelona final round

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A little more than one month after taking the first and historic double win overall at the very fast and historic circuit of Monza, Bhai Tech Racing is ready to compete in the International GT Open’s  final race to take place at Barcelona this week end.

The Mestrino based Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s racing team, whose director is Mr. Roberto Costa the engineer, will contest the Championship’s last round on the 4.655 m-long-Catalan racetrack as the GTS and drivers Championships’ leader, position achieved after taking a win at Nuerburgring, Silverstone, Monza and getting some good placing. Considering the slight point gap which separates all teams, the last round at Montmelò will be a 120 min.-final-challenge, divided into 2 races which are scheduled for Saturday (at 4 p.m.) and one race which is scheduled for Sunday (at midday).

“According to our first results, we would have never expected to race in Spain as the Championship leaders, fighting for the title. We’ve developed so much over the last few months and made use of all our energies. We’ll try to get the last pieces to complete the puzzle”, says Roberto Costa “In the year of our debut in the Championship, it’s great to be fighting for the title in the drivers and teams championship. I like the Montmelò racetrack very much. I drove many successful races there. It’s ten years since I took the first pole position along with Giorgio Pantano in the F.3000 Championship. I hope we’ll manage to keep on pursuing this direction and finish this season successfully”, comments the technical director.

It’s a special event also for the drivers fighting for the title and the top three “Our main goal is to win the teams’ championship, but of course, we’ll do our best to help Giorgio winning the drivers’ championship and help Luiz and Chris finishing in the top three. It will be our first racing experience at Montmelò behind the wheel of this car, so we’ll be well concentrated on the race. We’ve worked hard over these weeks in order to get ready to compete.”

The two 60’-free-practice sessions will take place on Friday. The two qualifying sessions to set the starting grid order will take place on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11.55 a.m. The 70’ first race will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while the 50’ final race is scheduled for Sunday at midday.

Abu Dhabi GP – Preview

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Seven days after Sebastian Vettel’s won his 4th world title, the F.1 paddock is ready to move to the Middle East for the last but three events to take place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

At Yas Marina teams will fight to get the second place in the drivers and constructors championship and they are all ready to score the points that are still up for grabs in order to preserve their position or aspire to new adventures into F.1. I expect Red Bull to do its best for not giving anything to rivals. The true challenge will take place behind them. Considering the track high temperatures and hot weather, the Pirelli tyres will play a key role again.

I get the feeling next racing week end will be mainly played out “off-stage” because of the many questions about the 2014 F.1 season that are still unanswered. There are still some free seats to be assigned: Lotus, for example, is looking for a driver to replace Raikkonen, being careful with money and technical skills. Williams’ Maldonado is determined to quit the English team to join the Eric Bouiller’s camp. Should the Grove-based team find an interesting economic agreement, it can sign Felipe Massa. Another aspect which is not of a minor importance compared to any other is the one concerning the maximum number of engines which can be used by each team throughout next season (5 engines per driver). Considering the large number of technical upgrades introduced by FIA (turbo-powered engine 1.6 with limited rpm, limited gas consumption, new energy recovery systems such as the MGU-K and MGU-H) and the lack of time to make on-track test, I think 5 engine units per season are not enough. It won’t be easy to find the right reliability and balance at the beginning. The great thing about that is that this technology can be applied to standard cars.

The 2014 season will be very demanding from a technical point of view, but I’m sure that engineers and technicians will be able to find a solution to that, as usual. Technical changes will involve a huge financial outlay for all teams and small teams will rely on great manufacturers’ technology. Historically speaking, regulations amendments has always changed the balance of the deployed forces. Red Bull seems to be out of reach and I think the Austrian team will be like that also in the future, but we will probably see some other team growing.

Indian GP – Drivers’ Scorecard

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Sebastian Vettel 9 – The 26-year-old driver won the fourth world title. He will make the history of F.1 Championship. He did what he wanted to, as usual. I appreciated his burnout in front of the audience (I would have never fined him) and I also appreciated the moment when he got down on his knees and kissed the car. Through that action, he made us understand how grateful to Red Bull he is.

Nico Rosberg 8 – He’s fighting hard to try to get the better over Ferrari for the second place.

Romain Grosjean 9+ – He deserves to be better graded than any other driver, as he showed to be stronger than his pitwall staff, who made several mistakes. Started from the 17th place, he managed to jump up to 3rd and drove an excellent race.

Kimi Raikkonen 8 – He took a particular choice. His teammate was better than him at handling tyres. His masterpiece was ruined by a last-moment- pit stop. Satisfaction comes from the fact he set the fastest lap. Congrats to Lotus, as well. The English team is fighting tooth and nail.  The team could act as a judge for the second and third place in the constructors’ championship.

Felipe Massa 8 – Competing as a “separated” at home it’s not easy at all. He wants to leave a good memory of himself, for sure and he wants to secure a future in the F.1 Championship. His fourth place is a good omen to try to close the point-gap with Mercedes.

Fernando Alonso 6 – “You can’t touch pitch without being defiled”. He took a very unlucky start, even if this time he was less concentrated than he was in many other occasions. According to times sequence, he could have fought against Rosberg to get a second place finish, but he was very nervous.

Sergio Perez 7+ – He handled his car in such a good way and he has improved time after time. He was strongly criticized throughout the Championship’s first part, now he’s upstaging Jenson Button. McLaren is getting ready for the 2015 racing season.

Lewis Hamilton 7 – He’s having quite a hard time. He doesn’t manage to get the most of his car, unlike his teammate. He held the reins of the team, but now he’s upstaged by Rosberg.

Force India 6 – The “homely atmosphere” was good for the team. After an unlucky period, the team finished in the points again with both its drivers. The week end was good for the Indian team which has almost secured the sixth place.

Toro Rosso 6 – One point is not enough, especially if we consider that the team’s immediate rival Sauber didn’t finish in the points. Even if three races are yet to be run, I don’t think they’ll be able to close the gap. As a Faenza-born person I hope they’ll have a good end to the season.

Indian GP- Preview

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We can say that the countdown for Sebastian Vettel to win the fourth Championship has already started. In the case the German driver should not seal a win on the Indian track, he would anyhow start to celebrate his victory seven days later at Abu Dhabi. At this point I don’t think there will be many alternatives for rivals. A 90-point-gap is almost impossible to close, even if, according to mathematics, 100 points are still up for grabs from now to November 24th. We can say that this chapter is already closed. I’m expecting Seb to drive an independent race, as usual.

The situation is completely different for what concerning the drivers behind him. Three drivers (Ferrari, Mercedes, Lotus with their drivers Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton) are fighting hard for the second and third place in the constructors and drivers’ championship. There’s a little point-gap between the three of them. If, on the one side, Lotus is chasing closely Mercedes, on the other side Ferrari cannot sleep easy, especially if Felipe Massa doesn’t start to score important points to preserve the team’s second place.

There’s also an interesting battle between Sauber and Toro Rosso to conquer the seventh place. In the last few races, the Faenza-based team was quite sluggish and lost the advantage gained throughout the Championship’s first part. The Italian team has to chase closely the Swiss squad which has now a 14-point lead over it.

All these battles can be the leitmotiv of the 2013 Indian GP, which is about to close down only after the third edition. Probably the 5121 m long Buddh International Circuit won’t be one of the F.1 Championship’s venues anymore, that is especially due to some bureaucratic reasons. Some customs-related issues haven’t been solved yet and some problems concerning the inward processing may be one of the main causes for the Indian track to be closed down as a F.1 venue.

Countries such as India, China and Korea are extremely important for the automotive business, so this is the reason why doing this kind of experiment is very important, even if all that is to the detriment of Western countries-based circuits. I think Government should adapt to formal procedures in order to avoid causing problems which turn to be difficult to solve. In parallel with these situations, there are also new schemes which can turn into reality. Unfortunately Western circuits, besides undergoing a deep crisis, they also have to deal with space issues and have to be adapted to the newest safety regulations, as they were built inside realities which are so difficult to modify.

Minardi "Italy is going back to the splendors of the ‘80s and ‘90"

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The Monza race was the final event of the Speed Italian Championship. About 7000 race enthusiasts attended the Italian race, which marked the end of a very satisfying season, whose results were uncertain until the very last round. The Prototype Championship and the GT Championship’s winners, were uncertain until the last race. The first one was won by Faccioni, the second one was won by the two Porsche drivers Lucchini and Postiglione.

The Formula ACI CSAI Abarth Championship was won by Alessio Rovera (born in 1995) who got the better over Michele Beretta (born in 1994), who tried to be hot on the heels of his colleague in the Championship’s finals. Thanks to the result achieved, Rovera and Beretta are entitled to attend the Super Corso organized by the Federation School (November 4th to 7th) and take part in the Auto GP testing session offered by Scuderia Coloni as a prize.

The season was not free from difficulties: the lack of people attending the Championship’s events was compensated by the competence of drivers and teams who gave us an engaging and high-level show. Despite the worldwide financial crisis, this was an ever-growing season and the maximum number of participants was reached at the Brianza-based circuit. The “Open Doors” initiative launched by ACI-Sport met a positive audience response. A large number of race enthusiasts coming from Lombardia crowded the paddock and the gallery. It was a very good experience which paves the way to new options and initiatives with regards to the 2014 racing season.

The Italian flag proudly waves also on other racetracks, even abroad. The successes achieved by Antonio Fuoco in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and by Raffaele Marciello in the F.3 Euroseries are a clear demonstration of Italian drivers’ talent. We don’t have to forget Antonio Ghirelli’s success in the Auto GP Championship and Antonio Giovinazzi’s second place in the British F.3. All these results are a clear proof that everybody’s work is leading Italian motorsport up to the ’80s-’90s level and I do believe all these achievements will contribute to restore the reputation our drivers enjoyed in the past.

I’d like to praise also the ACI CSAI, the Federation School and the FDA whose 4-year-old project starts bearing fruits at an International level. The project started with Raffaele Marciello, the first promising youngster and went ahead with Antonio Fuoco. This season we arranged some evaluative testing sessions with promising go-kart racers. We know that, because of the crisis we’re undergoing, drivers are lacking the “gas” to take off, anyway the results achieved are of a good omen and great efforts will be made to try to support them. Unfortunately, after Fisichella, Trulli, Liuzzi left F.1, no other Italian driver has taken part in the top Championship anymore, so a generation gap was created and it’s so difficult to close it immediately. All the work done aimed to make the most of young drivers’ talent and to draw attention on them.

The 2014 season’s news will be the introduction of Formula 4, which is a preparatory formula for young drivers coming straight out from kart racing. The President Sticchi Damiani has adhered to the FIA-conceived project since the beginning and now we’re proud to be the first Federation to carry out this project. 15-year-old young drivers will have the chance to drive cars duly designed to direct them towards a career as professional drivers and to compete in more demanding Championship in the future. It’s a challenge, but a great opportunity for us to continue to act as tutors and make the most of new talented drivers.

“Pit talk”….2014 F.1 season and more

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All teams’ efforts are focused on the 2014 season and the difficulties they’re meeting are not a few. It’s time to take stock of the situation thanks to the support of some friends who were very close to the Minardi F.1 Team in the past and some others who constantly deal with the F.1 limelight. I’d like to go beyond technical details, which characterized many articles published on many sports magazine and I’d like to create an overview of the situation by having a “pit talk”.

The main difficulties constructors are meeting with regards to the 2014 season ( Ferrari-Mercedes-Renault) are: Engine Consumption – Engine Power – Reliability, but the real handicap is the lack of on-track testing. Nowadays tests are made inside simulator suites. Even if driving simulation is a technologically advanced method to make testing, it cannot accurately reproduce on-track reality.

Thanks to suppliers’ cooperation, reliability is getting better and better, but we’re still talking about results achieved at the test stand. The situation could change when the engine unit is installed inside the car and on-track testing is run, as it’s very difficult to reproduce on-track situations in details.

According to the information gained, it seems that the three engines’ horsepower will be in a range between 610 and 620 hp. Engine designers are more focused on consumption streamlining, rather than on trying to achieve the engine’s maximum power. The Damocle’s sword for the 2014 season will be the 100 kg- gas- limit.

Excessive consumption could be disadvantageous during the race and it seems that everybody is still looking for a right balance. According to rumors, it seems that all constructors dread tire skidding, especially when drivers shift to the 2nd and 3rd gear (engine torque – engine power distribution – tyres effect). This effect features the current Pirelli tires, so it is very important to know the 2014 tyres’ characteristics. I don’t want to say anything more about that, as everyone is trying to bring everything to line with regulations and we don’t have to forget that next season new “energy recycling systems” will be introduced: the MGU-K (the KERS) and the newborn MGU-H, which is a brand new recycling system. This system is not so easy to install and it has still to be tested. Furthermore, we don’t have to forget that the basic engine has to be ready-to-run within 4 months!

Besides talking about the 2014 racing season, I’d also like to meditate on the 2015 racing season. HONDA will join the circus by officially supplying McLaren with engine. PORSCHE could join F.1, too. Despite the German manufacturer isn’t cooperating with any team at the moment, it’s by the way testing a new engine (well-informed people say that their engine unit is not second to any other unit in terms of consumption, horse power and reliability). The two above-mentioned manufacturers have made the history of turbo-powered engine (I’d point out that they’ve always made use of that system also for what concerning cars’ manufacturing).

It seems that the Honda engine put out 640 horsepower, which is much higher than rivals’ engine’s horsepower and the consumption level is very good. According to some rumors coming from Japan, it seems that some on-track tests will be made using a hybrid chassis. The chance for Honda to test its engine throughout the 2014 season, thanks to the cooperation with McLaren and Mercedes, can turn to be a technical advantage even with a view to the 2015 season.

This is only a “pit talk” and what is certain is that there’s something brewing and we’ll see wonderful things! Next winter and spring will be red-hot.

Points record for Fernando Alonso

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Even if the leadership in the F.1 Championship is 90 points away, thanks to the fourth place scored in the Japanese GP, Fernando Alonso set the record with regards to the sum of the points scored in a F.1 Championship. The Spaniard racked up 1571 points, getting the better of the 9-time-world champion Michael Schumacher.

His career started 213 GP ago (thanks to Gian Carlo Minardi’s insightfulness) at the Australian GP in 2001. A 19-year-old Fernando made his debut in F.1 alongside the Minardi Team.

During the 2001 season, the Faenza-based team scored three top-ten finishes, thanks to Tarso Marques’s ninth place finish in Brazil and Canada and to Alonso’s tenth place finish in Germany. The team didn’t score any point as only drivers who finished in the top six could score points: “According to the current F.1 point system, the Minardi Team’s history into the world of F.1 would have been different. We would have racked up 446 points”, said Gian Carlo Minardi “I want to congratulate Fernando on his success. He reached an important goal. The first time I saw him at the wheel of a F.1 car, I immediately realized he had an edge over other drivers. In 2001 he ran a fantastic season with us, before becoming Briatore’s team’s test driver. You could immediately realize he would have been a champion”, ends Minardi “After winning two world championships, he racked up 1571 points. I hope he’ll win the third title.”

Congrats Champion from Gian Carlo Minardi and the Minardi Team