Michele
Alboreto in his Motorhome
Please note that the interview was trancribed as is, broken English and all!
GS: Welcome to New Hampshire.
MA: Thank you.
GS: You've had a long and storied career in Formula One and Sports Cars and now oval track racing. Could you compare the different driving techniques that you use in an open wheel car on an oval to let's say, the World Sports Car Ferrari 333SP?
MA: Ah, first of all it is a monoplaste, so the limit of the car on an oval is much higher than the one of sports car. The sports car is made for long distance racing so everything is building up to resist, even 24 hours, like in Daytona, like in Le Mans. The oval car is made to be very quick for a short time, so everything is on the limit, the suspension and the aerodynamics and everything. So the limit of the monoplaste is much higher. But it is much more difficult also to drive!
GS: Do you feel like you are starting all over again in racing with the learning curve you have to face in oval racing?
MA: Ah, yuh exactly, I start again because if you think and you came here with everything new already, you make a big disaster. So it is better to, be quiet and start like, no strange things in the mind and be careful what everything you do.
GS: Do you think that the pressure to win here in the IRL is as intense as it was in Formula 1 on you personally?
MA: Every race is, even in the club historical racing, for professionals cars there is competition. When there is competition, everybodys come here to win. So the pressures to win is the same. Probably here, the ambience is much quieter. In Formula 1 there is too many distractions, people and ah, here I feel much comfortable.
GS: That was my next question, do you feel that race weekend is more relaxed in the states?
MS: Yes, I tell you, I feel like my beginning in Formula 1. In the beginning of my career in Formula 1, it was much like this. Everybody see each other under the tent, in the motor home and everything. My last season in Formula1, everyone, they close the motor home, just see each other sometimes in the debriefing and then the drivers are never together.
GS: Even amongst the drivers?
MA: Ah yuh, the ambience right now is like my beginning in Formula 1.
GS: And that is more because Formula 1 has changed and not because you grew up the ladder.
MA: Too much media, too much sponsors, too much money, too much people involved.
GS: And that equals pressure, too.
MA: Yuh.
GS: But the pressure to win, for you, comes from within.
MA: When you put your helmet on, and you go, the pressure to win is the same.
GS: Speaking of helmets, you have one of the most recognizable helmets in motorsports, I understand it is a tribute to someone that you admired, Ronnie Peterson?
MA: Yes, it was my, good friend and ah, it was my, fellow driver when I was young. So when I decided to start my career, I decided to keep the Swedish colors, that is why.
GS: As a tribute to him?
MA: Yes.
GS: You've raced against some of motor racing's finest in Mansell, Prost and Senna
MA: Lauda, Piquet, Reutemann, Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti
GS: Right! Unbeliveable.
MA: Nelson Piquet, I have a lot of good remebering, Niki Lauda too.
GS: Can you tell us something about what it was like competing against the three time Champion from Brazil, Ayrton Senna?
MA: Well, the story between me and Ayrton, because we arrive in Formula 1, more or less at the same moment, we grow up as two young aggressive drivers and at the beginning of our career, we have a big fight. Very big fight. Uh, I remember two or three times when we was very, very close to hava big, big crashes, but we push out each other two or three times, uh, in a very bad way. Mr. Ferrari call us and says both of us, "Remember that sooner or later you could be teammates so I want, now you shake your hands and stop these things." Because, was already for two or three races we push out each other.
GS: And so Enzo played the peacemaker.
MA: Yes, because he was supposed to have both of us on team, sooner or later. So, he was a really good, good fan of Ayrton and uh, we shaked hands and we became a friend from that moment. And uh, after that everything was much easier, he calmed down, I calmed down and we have a different career in the end. Because when I left Ferrari, unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to have a competitive car anymore, but Ayrton went on to have a fantastic career and was my, favorite guy because he was very clever, very serious. I don't think that now, even that Schumacher can - I'm not talking about the driving point of view, but as a person, it is difficult to be like Ayrton was.
GS: Very intense individual.
MA: Yuh and he takes care about safety, he can put himself on the weight, to defend all of the drivers. And I don't see that from the drivers that is in Formula 1 today. And remember that Ayrton, was one of the little guys that, uh, defend even the last guy on the field. Because, you know that when you are famous in Formula 1, that you can do everything that you want, but when you pay to drive, they can, they can, fire you in five minutes. So he says, "If these guys doesn't drive, I don't drive too." So, he tried to have the association of the drivers in Formula 1 close together. I don't see that after him, after him everybody thinks about themself. And that's bad.
GS: I think that a lot of the tifosi in your home country would have liked to have seen Senna in a Ferrari at one point and that never came to pass.
MA: Well, we was very close to have Ayrton in the Ferrari in '87 and then the budget for Ferrari doesn't, uh, permitted that. He was close to sign again in a '91or '92 and then uh, they postpone this things another year. But I'm sure that if he was alive today, he would be driving a Ferrari.
GS: And one more thing, uh, we'd just like to have you tell the radio audience; what type of motorcycle do you ride Michele Alboreto?
MA: Ah, I was ah, glad to see you on a Ducati F1, because it is the same type bike that I have, to enjoy on the track, but I have also, two Harley-Davidson.
GS: Laughter, ahhh! But the 750 F1 is...
MA: Is a racing bike, so is a super bike from ten years ago.
GS: Exactly.
MA: And a very famous bike in Italy, but is a little bit too quick for the road, so for the road, I prefer to use my Harley Davidson.
GS: Well, to meet you up here on this interview I used that quickness to make it here on time!
MA: Laughter
GS: Thank you very much and good luck this weekend.
MA: Thank you.
A Brief Note From Greg Sarni
Michele Alboreto died in a testing crash in Germany. Although it is difficult for me right now to find the motivation to share this passion, I find solace in celebrating what a terrific individual Michele Alboreto was as a human being. He was the last Italian born race driver that Enzo Ferrari chose to drive his Formula 1 car.
When his arch rival, Ayrton Senna, died in the Gran Prix of San Marino, he was a credible witness in court that it was equipment failure and not driver error that led to the crash that killed Senna. He did this out of respect for his fellow driver and to preserve the 3-time World Champion's honor as a talent without peer. An investigation into Alboreto's crash has found that a puncture of the left rear tire of his Audi R8 caused the blowout which caused the Audi to veer right and become airborne at 200 mph.
He had every right to be an arrogant, unapproachable, millionaire race driver. He was quite the opposite. When I interviewed him in '96, when he was driving in the Indy Racing League, many would have been too proud to compete in a series considered to be inferior to F1. Michele didn't care, he just loved to drive and compete.
I'm glad that I met him, because his life, the way he lived it and left it, taught me something. I learned that it is important to do what makes you happy, to treat others with kindness and compassion and to enjoy yourself. Life is short, so have fun and do your best to make a difference in the the lives of everyone you meet.
Michele's teammate, Emanuele Pirro penned a touching goodbye.
We all know that our sport is dangerous and we all know that anything can happen at anytime. We all should be prepared for the worst but when something happens, you realize that you are not prepared at all.
Loosing an outstanding driver, a friend for 20 years and your teammate at the same time is harder that I thought it would be.
Michele was a real gentleman and those who had the pleasure of meeting him know what I mean. I think of his family, his wife Nadia, their two daughters Noemi and Alice, alone with their sadness and their memories and I send them my deepest sympathy.
We are in shock today. I spoke to Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Dr. Ullrich, some of the Audi Sport and Joest people and a lot of common friends.The phone keeps ringing all the time, and our sadness is immense.
A famous person of the past said: "”In motor racing, no driver is too good to die" This is a bitter truth that applied to Michele, too.
I believe we, racing drivers, are blessed people who received a gift from God. We are doing something that we love with all of our hearts and we have a wonderful and intense life. Sometimes, unfortunately, life is not long enough, but none of us would like to trade it with anything else.
Michele has taken a part of all of us with him, but a lot nice memories remain.
Emanuele
