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They only hit the news when a driver
gets disqualified for a technical
infringement oh his car. If everything
work correctly, and that’s what happens
almost every time, the scrutineeringwill
go completely unnoticed. It’s very
difficult to se their namemade by the
media during theweekend. However,
the technical scrutineers are among the
most important people in the series.
They decide if a cars is compliant to
rules, verify if it has all the safety
features required by the tight standards
set by the International Federation, and
check that everything during the
weekend stays in the boundaries of
normality.
In the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS
championship there are three of them:
JoséGarrido, Reinhold Turati andDelio
Fava. They have different roots and
histories but they can gel to perfection
in order to solve all the questions that
can typically arise during a race
weekend. In addition to ALPS, they also
work for Renault Sport Technologies
and that contributes to improve the
relationship and the synergies between
the two series. “Our work - explains
JosèGarrido - begins after the first
practice session and before qualifying,
whenwe check the compliance of the
cars to the safety requirement. We
verify components like the safety belts,
their current state and the
homologation. We also check the fire
extinguishers and if the electric system
needed for them towork is ok. Also, we
check if the rear safety lights work, and
in free practice, if the tires used are the
same that have been registered. We do
the same on the starting grid, wherewe
alsomake sure that nobodymakes last-
minute splashes of fuel”. Then, after the
qualifications end, a new kind of work
starts: “after qualifying, we check the
compliance of the cars to the technical
rulebook - says Delio Fava - in terms of
weight, ride height, width of thewings
andmany other details. Also, after the
racewe literally tear the cars apart to
scrutineer each one of them. We usually
select the top-3 cars and draw in an
additional one”. For every event there
are from ten to fifteen checks
happening so everythingmust me
thoroughly kept under control: “It’s a
necessary job especially for the team -
continues Fava - so they know is the
car they are currently sending on-track
is fully compliant towhat is required by
the rules. We have to say that all the
teams are very collaborative. They ask,
inform themselves andwe provide them
with answers. It alsomust be noted that
nobody really tries to trick us out. They
know that there aremany checks and
they are the same for everybody. So
there is a collaborative spirit and I’m
also proud to note that many teams
thanked us for our work and for
providing themaximum level of
transparency”. With the rules being
identical to the Eurocup, an exchange
of information between the two
environments is a natural consequence.
It also insures that the series keep a
very high technical profile. “Every piece
of information is sharedwith Renault
Sport - says Reinhold Turati - so the
more data is collected the less are the
doubts. It’s a very important job sowe
can have everything under control in the
most correct fashion”. And their job is
well-regarded by Renault considering
that the ALPS teamwas able to
complete the highest number of checks
compared to the others so far. So in
addition to their valuablework on race
weekends, the technical scruitneers
provided the ALPS championshipwith
an even stronger leadership.
