Adria International Raceway to be auctioned by the end of March

As you will remember, the judicial events that directly involved the entire futuristic Adria International facility with the consequent closure, already at the end of January, ended up revolutionizing the calendars of the competitions scheduled for 2022, including those of the international karting season. 
The situation immediately became particularly complex. We asked the former mayor of Adria and former rally driver Massimo Barbujani about this, and he recalled the events that led to this low blow for the whole surrounding area. 

M.B: «It has to be said that things happened very quickly. The trustee in bankruptcy and the judge are proceeding very quickly, and everything inside will be auctioned off in the "stew mode" as they say in the jargon. It will remain an empty box waiting for someone to buy not only the "contents" but also the whole building part. 
Together with colleagues in the municipality, we are taking steps to organise an event to keep up the pressure and make it clear that an area like ours, which has already been hit like the rest of the country in the last period, could really suffer a lot in economic terms and not only that. The racetrack was among the only elements of appeal of our territory, especially for the tertiary sector. The signals and determination that are coming from those who are dealing with all this are really penalising a lot of things. Obviously I'm not going to go into the merits of the wrongs and reasons, but the situation for operators is not at all rosy, especially by removing important events that would have brought four or five thousand visitors. This is something that would spread like wildfire, not only at Adria but also in the surrounding areas, Chioggia, Rovigo, etc., thus wiping out the whole of the city. If the whole system is stripped of its substance, it will come to a sad end».

What are the possible scenarios or hopes?
«Someone would have to come along with the famous briefcase and buy everything,» continues Barbujani. «It would be a big investment by someone who wants to buy the whole package. I was mayor when the work began, especially on the karting part, which has made the facility one of the best around and of high functional quality and more. With the karting track, the whole area has made a qualitative leap, in addition to the Autodrome, which has often hosted major international events and its own organisation (such as the 24-hour race). After the period of economic crisis, the fortunes of the go-kart track have improved. We have to think of Adria as a multipurpose facility, not only for motorsport but also for many other events. The Italian Fencing Championship, for example, was also held here, as well as fairs and events». 

Hope springs eternal
«Obviously I hope that something will change. I know that someone wanted to talk to the owners to understand the economic entity. Obviously we need people who can manage all this. By 31 March, unless something changes or big investors come in, we'll be heading for an auction. What I don't understand was the almost spectacularity of rushing to close the track, it certainly wouldn't have escaped by acting less quickly, nothing would have changed. The scenarios could be multiple, it will depend on how they might evolve with the judge and the insolvency administrator, it will be a Chinese box game between the companies present. The territory, however, is moving and hopes for some resolution. We are organising an event, as I said, precisely to make people understand the damage at a territorial level. We're working on all this together with restaurateurs, political forces, hoteliers, etc. in a broad sense, not just in Adria. The current mayor has an open table at the Prefecture, and we'll see how the situation will progress, in the hope that it will». 

We are therefore waiting for possible developments in a situation that has often been described as very special, given the determination of those involved.