Happy Birthday, Jarno!

An exponent of that group of drivers who made karting history in the 1990s, Jarno won indeed much in karting: a World Championship in Formula K in 1991 and one in the gearbox category (then Formula C) in 1994, plus an untold number of top-level races at the time: World Cups, Hong Kong GP, Italian Championships - which at the time were worth a World Championship, believe us. His being always in front attracted the attention of Flavio Briatore who accelerated and determined his motor racing career: from 1995, the year of his debut in the German F3, came the victories and the indisputable proof of his talent: in F1 with Minardi in 1996 (today it would be ....Alpha Tauri) and a very long career in the top formula in which unfortunately the results were not what he would have deserved. In his relations with the press and fans, Jarno remained the simple guy of his karting days, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why so many still love him.
When it comes to karting, passion oozes from his every pore, and Jarno, who knows the subject in-depth, has never held back his views on related matters. A vision that we at Vroom have often had the opportunity to gather, first as a driver, more recently as a "racing dad" (Enzo, Jarno's 17-year-old son runs in F3 with Carlin, ed.), and that leaves no room for misunderstanding. We’d like to summarize his views from a recent talk of his in our Magazine: «I started when I was 12 years old and until I was 20 I was a professional kart driver - something that is practically impossible today. Today you’re put in the kart very early: when you’re 15 it’s already ten years that you’re in this environment and everything is aimed at getting to the top. Hence the large amounts of money that are invested right away without even being able to tell if a kid is really talented. Because the reality is that it’s only after the age of 18, and even quite a bit later, that you "see the champion." There are so many reasons why, for example, you might have been successful in karting (weight and physical structure, team, materials available, testing, etc.) without necessarily being a "champion." Understand what I mean? Even Steve Jobs, at 18, was a nobody! We understand each other, don't we?»
No need to add more, except: Thank You Jarno, and our Best Wishes!