20
Andrea, let’s start with the rules. Pietro
Mennea, a great champion who had speed in
his blood, always said that the beauty of
sport is that it imposes clear rules. And this is
why it can be viewed as school for life. Do
you agree?
«
Rules are the fundamental factors that, over
the course of twelve installments, determine
the life and death, success and failure and the
growth and decline of organisations. Successful
organisations, whether sporting or otherwise,
have clear, distinct rules that are real, well-
publicised, applied and respected. Do rules
help or restrict? Are they an obstacle to be
overcome or a benefit for everyone? What is
our true relationship with the world of rules
and the concept of discipline, and how can we
reconcile this with a culture of improvisation,
tolerance, compromise and favouritism? Every
sport has its own specific set of rules. In
football you can’t touch the ball with your
hands, you have to kick the ball and not your
opponents; in volleyball you can only touch
the ball with your hands, and you can't touch
your opponents. If you don’t know the rules of
baseball, you won't understand a thing if you
watch a game on TV, you can’t participate in
the spirit of the game and you won't enjoy
yourself.
This «spirit of game» is what sets sports apart
from other walks of life, such as the world of
commerce. If a business rival is in difficulty,
everyone else is only too happy to take
advantage of the situation. In sport, if a top
cyclist falls during a race, his main rival will
wait for him rather than taking advantage
because there would be no honour in such a
victory. True sport, that which comes before
business, is educational by definition; it
teaches us that the results do not matter unless
we achieve them through our own merits, self-
discipline, and total commitment, that we
should respect our opponents and accept
defeat with good grace, and that sport should
mean competition not war. In another sense,
«
rules» were the foundations that enabled
medieval religious orders to establish a specific
identity, a recognisable institutional identity, a
common raison d'être. Even today, «rules» are
the origin and the essence of an organisation,
legitimising it and guaranteeing its survival.
Rules define who you are, how you present
yourself, the proposals you make about
yourself and your organisation. Are rules
merely restrictions and rigidity, or are they
there to help and support actions? Rules
represent the only way it is possible to act
collectively, they give meaning to our actions».
However, motor racing, or motorsport as it’s
now known, throws up a paradox: it attracts
us because it offers thrills and excitement,
but at the same time we’re always attempting
to reduce the risks. Is this really possible?
«
Man has always been fascinated by speed,
because we associate speed with acts of
bravery that are reserved for the Few: a risky
business. This was already true of the chariot
races in ancient Rome and, even before that,
the horse races at the Olympiads during the
fourth century B.C. Today, more than ever, the
safety is the primary concern and responsibility
We begin our journey through the complex world of motorsports in
the company of Andrea Toso, Research and Development manager
at Dallara.
The journey is designed as both a guide to, and dictionary of, the
world of motor racing, providing a brief but wide ranging
introduction to the numerous facets of this fascinating subject in
the form of a dialogue.
Over the course of twelve instalments we will be covering various
aspects of motor racing: from the history of the famous teams and
manufacturers, human values in motor races, and the importance
The heart of racing
THE PARADOX OF
I
NTRODUCTION
:
WHAT IS MOTORSPORT
.
T
HE RULES AND THE CONTEXT
.
