Some may disagree with me, but I think a great racing car must be a winning car. Racing cars can look fantastic and nice, but if they don’t win races they’re no good. In my experience, I can completely rule out any of my Formula One cars. Unfortunately, I didn’t ever get to a team with a car capable of winning races, or if I did the years I raced for them were not at the top. To be honest, I drove the most competitive cars in touring car races and championships. So, I must choose one of these cars. In the UK, my most successful year was in 1994 driving an Alfa Romeo 155 D2. The engine was a 2-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder engine built by Lampredi, but without the turbo. It gave over 280 hp and accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in around 3 seconds. I have really great memories from this season 1994. I became the first Italian driver to win the championship in an Italian car, and this was very good for me personally. It was great too for the many Italians who had immigrated to the UK in years past. It was good too to see the red Italian Alfa Romeo cars at the front again on English soil. I think a lot of English fans remember the early years of Grand Prix racing when Alfa Romeo cars were at the front—so many of them showed me their photos of these days. This season gave me so much pleasure that this must be my greatest racecar.
Another car, which was a really great racer, was the 1996 Alfa Romeo ITC car. This car had a 2.6-liter, V6 engine that was capable of producing a top speed nearing 200 mph. It was very light too, just 1,060 kilos. The car was full of electronics and was the most technical car I have ever driven in my life. It was very complicated to use and very complicated to set up, but maybe one of the best cars I ever drove.
Thinking about the Formula One cars I drove, in my last season I was with the Fondmetal team. The car was a great car, designed very well, but before the season started the money stopped and we couldn’t get the best out of it. In many cases, especially in Formula One, it is the budget, or lack of budget, which allows the car to be developed, or not. It was a real shame, we couldn’t test or do anything to the car which was designed by Sergio Rinland. In Grand Prix races, I was able to qualify in good positions, which was all very nice for this little team. We could easily get into the top eight, or top ten, but the car was very fragile and wouldn’t last the race distance—purely due to the lack of development money.
My career has been very long, I’ve been able to drive for a long period of time in my chosen sport. My attitude was such that, at times, I was just happy to be on the grid itself—if I had a better car I’d hope to be able to fight for the best finish possible. Although Formula One was the peak of my career, in terms of getting to the top, it didn’t offer me too much. When I was younger it was very frustrating for me as a driver. Later on, and with much more experience, you know you need a good car and the team must have plenty of money for development to challenge for the top places. Personally, I always share my victories and defeats with my car. When you win, 40, 50 maybe 60 percent comes from the car and the rest is the driver. When you lose, the percentages remain the same, so the defeat is shared too.
As told to Mike Jiggle
