4
Grand Am
A
N INTERVIEW WITH
M
AX
A
NGELELLI
,
WHO RECAPTURED HIS
2005 G
RAND
-A
M TITLE
,
DRIVING
THE
D
ALLARA
C
ORVETTE FOR THE
W
AYNE
T
AYLOR
R
ACING TEAM
. T
HE DRIVER FROM
B
OLOGNA TALKS
TO US ABOUT HIS YEAR AND EXPLAINS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
V
ARANO
AND
I
NDIANAPOLIS
,
WHICH NOW BOASTS A
GM
CHAMPIONSHIP
. T
HE NAMES AND REGULATIONS
MAY BE CHANGING NEXT YEAR
,
BUT
M
AX AND
D
ALLARA
’
S AIMS ARE STILL THE SAME
:
ANOTHER TITLE
Max, let’s talk about the championship:
what does this win feel like?
«We won the title in 2013, just like 2005,
but in effect it does feel different. This
year’s championship was a real roller
coaster. We started of well, before almost
losing our way, and then coming back even
stronger than before, for a variety of
reasons. However one thing remained
constant throughout the year, a highly
competitive car. Our Dallara Corvette was
never outside the first two places,
irrespective of the events and the final
result. Yellow flags at inappropriate
moments, a minor technical failure while
we were in the lead, there were many
factors that conspired against us and cost
us important points. However, at the end
the day we prevailed in a highly
competitive championship involving 14-15
cars, 8 of which were absolutely
phenomenal».
Which was the most important race?
«There were two main phases. During the
first phase the most important race was in
Daytona, which put us in the frame for the
title; and the victory at Barber, which got
the ball rolling. During the second and final
phase, it was the three victories that made
all the difference».
Looking ahead to 2014, what developments
are you expecting to see
«I think the Dallara is the most widely
misunderstood car in the history of Grand-
Am, because it has enormous potential. After
we changed our technical director we finally
started to realise this potential. If you look
at the results from this year, you'll see the
Dallara Corvette is always in leading places,
with the Riley and the Coyote jockeying for
position behind it. In other words we were
always in the mix, while the other teams
had their ups and downs. This was not lost
on General Motors, who stipulated that all
the Corvettes must be Dallara. Now it’s up to
us to get everything organised. The new car
is already ready, and we’ve had requests
from numerous teams. Interest in Dallara is
growing».
How does the collaboration with Dallara
pan out over the year?
«It’s something were proud of. We are an
American team competing in America, and
Dallara has a high profile in the United
States. Our partnership functions as though
we and Dallara were a single entity,
overcoming the distance and the ocean that
separate us. It’s like having Dallara’s Italian
technical department here in America, there
are numerous engineers working full time on
our project. The project manager Luca
Bergianti combines good engineering skills
with astute business sense. Antonio
Montanari, who is the son of a Dallara
stalwart, designed and developed the car. He
was responsible for all the calculations, and
continues to work on the necessary
upgrades. He can see things that escape us
drivers».
So there are continuous developments over
the course of the year?
«Yes, in fact we even modified the rear
suspension before the last three races of the
season. The suspension was designed by
Ferdinando Concari, the same person who
was involved in designing the Formula 3
when I was racing in it. It’s also important
not to forget our background staff, even if
they do not work directly on the project.
Stefano De Ponti is also an avid fan. We are
based in Indianapolis and sometimes it is
necessary to ship in a hurry; Stefano, who is
Dallara’s American manager, is always ready
to lend a hand. Dallara covers all the bases,
both technical and logistic».
Have you had the chance to test the Grand-
Am car on the simulator yet?
«The simulator is a project that was
implemented in a very short space of time,
Atlantic alleance
