Terrible Italians

Written by Alessandro Roca.
 
Antonio Giovinazzi is the only one Italian driver currently racing in F.1, even if he is only the Ferrari’s third driver. The last Italian driver in F.1 was Giancaclo Fisichella and now his former manager, Enrico Zanarini, was able to carry another Italian driver to F.1. “After Liuzzi and Fisichella, my goal as a manager was to take another Italian driver to F.1 and I did it with Antonio.” said the Italian manager.
 
Under contract with Zanarini there are also Antonio Fuoco and Leonardo Marseglia, the latter is currently racing the OK Junior with Dino Chiesa.  


 
So Leonardo, last year with Tony Kart it was a little bit difficult, but now with Dino Chiesa you seem to be another driver…
 
“Racing with Tony Kart was really a great experience, my first time in a factory team and my first year in OK Junior. Last year was the first year of this category and it was a new challenge for everybody. Moreover I raced on a lot of new tracks throughout the Europe for the first time. It was a season during which I grew up a lot and the win in the DKM at Oschersleben is a proof of that. Unfortunately immediately after that win I suffered a physical problem related to the growth, but now it’s gone. This year with Dino I immediately achieved good results, thanks to a new approach, but also thanks to the previous experience that I gained last year.”
 
Describe Dino Chiesa with three adjectives and explain them…!
 
“Professional in the organization of the whole team, drivers included. A master technically speaking. Cold when he analyzes situations and unexpected events. Precise in his view of the racing weekend. Fatherly in his reactions after our mistakes. I said five adjectives, but he has so many qualities that I could go on for hours. Each aspect is given to the experience, that in his case is an incredibly valuable asset.”
 
We are heading into CIK-FIA season. What do you expect from the European championship?
 
“First of all I can make the most of the track: I know very well Sarno and this can help me, but for this year I feel a different atmosphere. In my heart, with the help of Dino, I can approach better the new tracks. The feeling that I have with the Zanardi chassis and the Iame engine will do the rest.”
 
Who are drivers that you fear most in the European championship?
 
“The OK Junior is a constantly changing category: each race could present new rivals who yesterday were struggling and now they’re on top. If you look at my previous season, it’s the same for me. For now the classification speaks itself: Andrea Rosso, Harry Thompson and Mattia Michelotto above the others, but also my other teammate Hadrien David could be part of the game.”
 
How is your realtionship with Mattia Michelotto, your teammate?
 
“With Mattia I spent the first part of my careeer and this year is our first season as teammates. Nothing has changed: we’re rivals on the track, but friends in the paddock. Something has changed, but it has changed positively and it’s our attention to the overall result of the team. Needless to say that Dino is very happy of that!”
 
You have the Enrico Zanarini’s company logo on your suit: what is your relationship with him? And what is your relationship with Antonio Giovinazzi?
 
“Zanarini’s organization is trying to help Italian drivers and that’s not so usual in our world. Being part of this project gives me an incredible buzz and I already feel the professional environment of single seaters... I’m waiting to move into formulas, but first I have to demonstrate my value and, with all these people that are helping me, I’m doing it correctly. I consider Antonio as a big brother, he helped me a lot while I was in the 60 Mini class. We hang out also out of racetrakcs: I’m from Ostuni and he’s from Martina Franca, so we can say that we’re neighbors.”
 
If not in F.1, where you would like to race?
 
“All of us, behind the declared F.1 target, wants to become a professional driver. I admire Antonio also for this aspect: he has always been really concrete, taking all the opportunities to become a pro driver with no regards to the championship.”


 
The new WSK Super Master champion Andrea Rosso, racing with Baby Race, is one of those drivers to keep under control because until now he demonstrated to be incredibly fast and consistent.
 
An extraordinary start to the new season: you’re the new WSK Super Master Series champion thanks to two awesome wins, you were so close to winning during the Winter Cup too, and now you have won the Margutti. What have you been working on during the winter to reach this level?
 
“I started working for these results last year because I started driving the OKJ as soon as I could, just after I turned 12. Now I’m reaping benefits of what I’ve done with Baby Race and One Engine that gave me all the support that I needed, not only technically, but also from a human point, and that’s very important if you want to grow in this sport.”
 
Who are drivers that you fear most in the European championship?
 
“Well as we could have seen in the first races, there are a lot of strong rivals, but I’m not particularly scared of any of them. I hope that we’ll see fair races, and the Margutti is a clear example of that: besides the fact that I won, I think that it has been wonderful race, where all the drivers raced fairly.”
 
Are you working on any weakness?
 
“I’m hardly working on the approach to the race: sometimes when I’m in the lead I make mistakes because of the pressure that I feel. For this reason, with the help of Formula Medicine, I’m working on concentration. I think that it’s one of the most important aspects for the growth of a driver.”