14
Quality
first of all
How satisfied are you with the teams and drivers who
participated in the 2013 Renault ALPS competition?
“We’re highly satisfied. I don’t think we could have asked for
anything more, both in terms of numbers and quality. We had
an incredible field of top class teams and drivers from all over
the world, and the competition for the various titles on offer
went right down to the wire”.
In fact, the championship wasn’t decided until the last race.
How would you evaluate the season from a competitive point
of view?
“I think the fact that the championship went down to the last
race demonstrates the value of the whole competition.
Although team Prema won every single race, an incredible feat
in itself, and for the greater part of the season its drivers were
the only ones with a realistic chance of winning the title, this
should . In fact a number the young rookies who finished just
outside the top three made excellent progress over the course
of the season”.
Last year, the title went to Kvyat, a star of F.3 Europe and
recent winner of the GP3 championship who has just been
named as one of the Toro Rosso team drivers for the 2014 F.1
season. This year, ALPS 2013 was championship was won by
Fuoco, who is ready to make the step up to F.3 Europe. Do
you think that this is ALPS’ role, as a training ground for
drivers aspiring to make the move into international
motorsports categories?
“I would say so. Not just Daniil Kvyat, who, by an incredible
coincidence, received the official confirmation from the Toro
Rosso team one year to the day after winning the FR2.0 ALPS
championship and immediately after winning the GP3 title. And
not just Antonio Fuoco, who started the season as a complete
outsider, and now seems destined for what we all hope will be
a truly stellar career. Several other drivers, some of whom, like
Kvyat and Fuoco, are being monitored by F.1 teams’
development programs (e.g. Ferrari in the case of Fuoco, Red
Bull, Lotus, McLaren, Caterham), have emerged this year
thanks to our championship and will certainly follow Kvyat into
the senior categories”.
Barbara Petrivelli, from
Fast Lane Promotion,
summarises the 2013 season,
future programs, and the
reasons behind ALPS series'
growing reputation in the
European motorsports sector
The interview
Barbara Petrivelli
