Just a few short months after they started working together, Davide Foré and team Maranello were celebrating their first victory. It came during the 4th round of the Open Masters that took place on the Lonato circuit. The five-times world champion was also hoping for a rendez-vous with success in the European championships. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on his side, so he missed out on the podium spot his performance this weekend would have merited.
Davide Foré is not the type to discourage easily. He has won dozens of races with Tony Kart since the start of his career, and his intention is to repeat the performance with his new team. However, in Ugento it was not to be. A cracked spark plug (something that happens so rarely) cut him short three laps from the chequered flag when he was well in the lead in the race. So his results list reads: fourth and fifth places (Winter Cup, Trophée Margutti, Open Masters in Ugento, first round of the European championships), which needless
to say doesn’t satisfy him at all.
“I’ve been plagued by little technical problems this season. So my solitary victory in Lonato was something to savour. It is with the greatest of pleasure that I dedicate it to everyone at Maranello, because the whole team has been working so hard to provide me with the best machine possible. We have struck up a perfect understanding together and we have confidence in each other. It was an emotional moment !” Added Davide, who is now back up to third place in the Italian Open Masters, just four points behind the driver in second place. This season’s exciting series draws to a close on July 22 in Val Vibrata.
Davide Fore was very fast in Lonato, and so he was in France, racing in the second round of the European championships in Varennes sur Allier. Signalling his intentions right from the start, the Italian driver was third in the time trials, but after that things started to go wrong. “In the first heat I got shunted off the track and found myself at the back of the crowd and then in the second my engine wouldn’t start on the starting line because of an electrical fault. So I had to go through repechage in order to qualify. It felt very strange, it’s not often something like that happens to me!” 30th on the starting grid in race 1, he made a magnificent come-back to 12th place, clocking the second fastest lap in the race. “The chassis balance was perfectly set up, and I made the most of the slipstream effect that you get a lot of in Varennes, to climb through the field”. In Race 2, he was still going strong. “About half-way through I was already up to fourth place so a podium finish was in sight. But then several drivers started to lose their nerve and on several occasions I got pushed off my trajectory, so in the end I had to make do with coming 10th. I’ve often noticed how drivers tend to go a bit mad when they see a world champion in front of them. I was disappointed because behind the Vortexes of Ardigo and Catt, which were virtually untouchable on such a fast track, I was going the best of the chasing pack. But still, I thought I drove a good attacking race. The conditions were just not right for me to do better”.
A busy time ahead!
“We are going to make the most of the summer weeks for testing, in order to be ready for the two big events, the KZ1 World Cup in Sarno and the KF1 World Championships in Mariembourg”, declared Davide Fore. “I’ll be going off to those circuits with my technical team for some development work. In particular, we’ll be working on our Parilla (KF1) and Maxter (KZ1) engines. Vortex in KF1 and TM in KZ1 have set a very high standard but I’m determined we are going to be up there with them. Before these two big meetings take place I am hoping to have a great finish in the European championships, in which I’m still in with a chance of a final podium place”. |
