I
It started almost as a joke, during a
meeting between Prof. Giordano Ferrari
of the ITIS (Technical High School) in
San Secondo and Engineer Luca Pignacca,
Dallara design manager:
«
I’d like to
organise a discussion about road safety
between one of your drivers and my pupils
who will soon be taking their driving
tests…»
.
A few weeks later the ideal
opportunity arose:
«
If you're interested, the
IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will
be working on the simulator on 28th
November, perhaps some of your pupils
would like to ask him some questions»
.
The school accepted immediately and the
invitation was extended to other schools
in the area, in fact there were so many
applications that Dallara had to limit the
numbers. In the end around 200 fourth
and fifth year students from the scientific
grammar school in Borgotaro, the Itis and
scientific high school in Fidenza, the Itis in
S. Secondo and the Itsos (state technical
school) in Fornovo attended.
After a few words from President Dallara,
the managing director Engineer
Pontremoli and the evening’s promoter,
Luca Pignacca, the pupils started firing off
their questions, almost all of them in
English. The presenter, and interpreter, for
the evening was Engineer Andrea Toso,
research and development manager and
“
father” of the Dallara simulator that
Hunter Reay would be trying out over the
next few days. The focus of the session
was on road safety, a very important
subject for these youngsters who will
shortly be getting their driving licenses.
«
When you get into your cars
–
the Texan
driver began –
a lot of you are a little
crazy, just like me. But the difference is that
I drive on the track, and my car is a
Dallara, which is a bit like being in a safety
capsule. The risks on the road are much
greater due to a series of factors that you
can’t control in the same was as you can on
the track and, above all, a road accident
can have serious consequences for the rest
of your life
».
The discussion gradually moved on to
racing in general, the world of IndyCar,
and the differences with Formula 1; there
was a lot fun but also touching moments,
such as when Ryan recalled his mother
who died of cancer, his involvement with
associations that carry out research into
the disease and the number of his car, 28,
which he selected to show his support for
the 28 million people who are battling
cancer worldwide.
In addition to winning the 2012 IndyCar
title, Hunter Reay is also the most
successful current American driver in the
open wheel categories, but in true
informal Indycar style he was more than
happy to stay behind after the discussion
for a photo and autograph session with all
the students. At the end of the debate, the
students, accompanied by the Dallara
technicians, were shown over the Dallara
driving simulator.
«
We gave the youngsters an idea of what
we do here
–
explained Engineer Dallara to
the press who attended the event –
but
above all they got to meet someone whose
job it is to drive fast in order to learn that,
when you're on the road it is essential to
respect the law and take into account the
weather conditions and the state of your
own vehicle. It was interesting that most of
the discussion took place in English, and
encouraging to see that young people are
beginning to gain such a good command of
the language
».
Engineer Pontremoli agreed: «
It’s easy to
drive fast, but it’s much harder to handle
the unexpected situations that may occur
on the road. If you want to go fast, do it on
the track, and when you’re on the road,
drive carefully
».
Alessandro Santini
19
Liceo Scientifico “Gabriele D’Annunzio” – Fidenza
«
We have been really impressed by Dallara courtesy and we’re
thankfull about che chance we had to join the meeting. The talk
with Hunter-Reay made us feeling more interested about a world,
the motorsport, that we really didn’t know».
Federica, Federico, Filippo, Ivan and Elisabetta
«
One things that made us think is that such a big company can be
perfectely integrated in our region. Nowaday we tend to assume that
the biggest companies are the ones from abroad, but it’s not an
utopia to realize that we can get a big inspiration from the factories
based in our region. We found very interesting the meeting with the
champion driver, he has been very kind to answer to all our
questions, and at te same time we had the chance to practise our
english».
Lisa, Gabriele, Veronica, Elisa
ITIS “Galilei” - S. Secondo
«
Both students and teachers found the meeeting very interesting.
They really appreciated the technical side of the factory, the unique
way it is run by Dallara’s people, the kindness of eng. Dallara
himself and the genuinity that all the employes showed in the
occasion. The students were fascinated by the technical matters and
by the chat with Hunter Reay, not only a great driver but a great guy
as well».
ITSOS E. Gadda di Fornovo
Vincenzo and Jalil: “It's been very interesting to listen to a very
famous driver coming from America in person. Then it's also been
great because Hunter-Reay was really patient and signed a lot of
autographs and let a lot of people take photographs with him.
Knowing that his car was designed by a company which is located
so close to our school made us really proud!”
Kennedy: “I think our meeting with Ryan was fantastic: he's a
common person and he has a good appearance. He is a legend. I
heard about him a few years ago and I'm very happy I met him. He
answered all our questions as we were expecting him to do”.
Maria Chiara: “Really interesting experience because in addition to
improving our english, it showed us that the goals we set in life can
be reached with dedication and commitment, and that, in the end,
the results reward us for the effort done.”
Mattia: “I think that the meeting with American driver Ryan
Hunter-Reay has been really captivating and successful. Two
different aspects were contemplated, the English language and the
fame of the 2012 IndyCar Series Champion. I hope that event like
this could be repeated in the future and I thank Dallara for the
opportunity.”
Foreing Language High School “Zappa-Fermi”, Borgotaro, III
“
We want to thank Mr. Dallara and his staff for having provided us
with a chance to look forward to the professional world and visit a
world-renowned local company which was created and developed
with passion. The most rewarding thing was to see Hunter-Reay
surrounded by young students as he proved extremely kind and
friendly. He showed to be pretty confident in the new generations
and that's really encouraging for us”.
The voice of the students
