Dallara Magazine - page 30

30
La visita
nutshell: the reason for staying together, the
bonds that keep people united, and the ethical
code. In light of the above, the Culture of
Motorsport is a highly exciting entertainment
business whose fundamental ethical code is
rooted in respect for one’s opponent under
conditions where the element of risk is plain
for all to see. Motorsport is nothing without
the thrills and mutual respect of the
participants.
Let’s move on to the “geopolitics” of racing:
what are the great nations behind the
development of motoring and what has each
contributed to that process?
«The development of motor racing in any
given nation depends on the specific culture of
that country. In Great Britain the circuits were
developed from airfields: Snetterton,
Silverstone are both ex-World War II
aerodromes – whereas the post-war conversion
of specialised workshops contributed greatly to
the emergence of talented engineers
accustomed to designing and producing light,
fast vehicles. In the USA many of the circuits
are converted horse racing tracks, especially on
the eastern seaboard; further west, the area we
know as the Great Plains gave birth to the
“dragster strips”; the Speedways, which were
originally used for testing the reliability of
vehicles destined for mass production, grew up
in the Mid West, America’s motoring heartland
that includes the cities of Indianapolis and
Detroit. In Italy and France the circuits
developed in and around big towns such as
Modena, Reims and Dijon, or parks (Monza)
and spa towns (Spa). In Germany, circuits such
as Avus and the Nurburgring were designed to
underline the strength and prestige of the
regime. Racing reflects culture and culture is
inextricably linked to history and geography:
from the wide open spaces of Arizona to the
dusty roads of the Targa Florio».
Business logic vs. sport for sport’s sake: do
you believe that it's possible to define a
"philosophical" approach capable of reaching
a compromise between these two ostensibly
irreconcilable points of view?
«The Motorsport sector means rigorous working
practices, unsociable hours and virtually no
free weekends, and an underlying intellectual
integrity: once every two weeks the stopwatch
takes over, and marketing considerations take
a back seat. In order to survive in Motorsports,
and get any satisfaction from it, one has to
assume a “mental habitude” that rapidly
becomes second nature and even conditions
one’s interpersonal relationships to a
degree; and this is why it’s never easy to move
into Motorsports from other industrial sectors.
Regardless of the activity involved, the
unforgiving triangle of “time”, “costs”,
“performance” will always prevent us from
meeting all our goals simultaneously: reduced
times result in increased costs or reduced
performance (or the quality of the product);
reducing costs will increase times or reduce
quality; and if we want to improve the
performance we will also have to increase
costs, and so on. Within this context, the
emphasis in Motorsports is squarely on the
time factor: «The race is at three o’clock on
Sunday afternoon, whether you're ready or
not», whereas performance is the overriding
consideration in the military sector and cost
has absolute precedence in the mass-produced
consumer goods industry. With the exception of
such extreme situations, the vast majority of
industrial activities function by implementing
a compromise between these three
dimensions».
Many would agree that sport has a “mystical”
side too – a good example is Forster Wallace’s
definition of “Federer as a religious
experience”. Do you think this also applies to
motor racing? Was Ayron Senna a “mystical”
figure in the racing world?
«At Olympia, in the VII century before the birth
of Christ, the games were the expression of the
religious cult that united the various city states
of the time, or the different nations as we
would say today. Motor racing, together with
the other sporting events that have truly
international appeal (for example the Formula
1 World Championship or the various Football
Championships), represent the new religion,
which, to use its original sense, “binds” people
from different continents and of diverse races,
beliefs and political ideals together. And this is
why our “sporting heroes” come to be viewed
as “mystical" and “charismatic” figures in the
collective imagination, especially when, like
Federer and Senna, they are capable of
maintaining an exemplary public image
throughout their careers. The tragedies of the
Sport, the deaths of Senna, Villeneuve and so
many others, serve to highlight its “religious”
dimension, because the public emotion is
intense, immediate and shared».
Finally, are there any books that you would
recommend to anyone who would like to
find about more about this subject?
«I strongly recommend “The unfair advantage”,
the story of Team Penske, by Mark Donuhue,
engineer, victor at Indianapolis, Nascar and GT
driver, and much more. This book describes the
culture of the rigorous and ceaseless search for
a competitive, quantifiable, concrete and
practical sporting advantage; it recounts the
failures and the lessons learned in an
environment governed by that implacable
judge that we call the stopwatch. You can’t
help but draw parallels and analogies with
your own working methods and experiences as
you read it»
One final footnote to your last reply, and our
conversation as a whole; if you had to name
one person who, in your opinion, embodies
the “humanistic” approach to the world of
motor racing, who would it be?
«Harvey Postlethwaite, without a doubt».
Dizionario
Driver (or Pilota in Italian)
The English term driver derives via the Old
English verb drifan "to force, hunt, pursue;
push against” from a proto-Germanic root
word dribanan signifying “to push from
behind”.
The Italian word for driver, Pilota, is a
seafaring term of Germanic or possibly
Greek origin, meaning one who steers a
ship and refers to an expert, specialised
sailor whose extensive knowledge of the
coasts, currents and hazards serves to
guide shipping safely and rapidly both
inshore and in open water.
Competition (or competizione in Italian)
This word has its origin in the “electoral”
world of the ancient Romans,
“cum+petere”, a common desire for the
same thing (the same office, judiciary,
consul etc.) that may, however, be
assigned to a single individual only. Hence
the term “competence” i.e. the theoretical
(training, education) and practical
(experience) preparation necessary to
compete. Therefore “Competition” may be
defined as competent contestants vying to
obtain a prize for which there can only be
one winner.
Track (or Pista in Italian)
”Track”, originally signifying “footprint,
mark left by anything”, comes from the
Old French trac meaning “trail of horse,
trace” and possibly from an older
Germanic source (comparable meanings
are Middle Low German treck, Dutch trek
"drawing, pulling").
The Italian word pista also has strong
equestrian connotations (just for a
change!) and derives from the Latin term
pistus signifying the “pestata”, i.e. beaten,
course used for races in the Hippodrome,
for example the Circus Maximus in ancient
Rome.
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