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How many teams do you expect to be
involved in the 2014 season?
“All the teams that took part this year
have already confirmed that they will be
participating again next season, while
there are a number of others that are
interested in competing. Keeping our
feet on the ground, as always, I would
expect the numbers to be largely the
same as this year and, more importantly,
I expect the same quality of
competition”.
Although it’s a predominantly Italian
competition, ALPS has a marked
international flavour. How do you explain
that?
“The international aspect of our
championship is not a recent
development. Back in the days of FR2.0
Italia, despite the fact the races were
mainly held in Italy, there were always a
significant number of foreign teams, and
especially foreign drivers, and this
tradition carried over into ALPS three
years ago, and has continued to grow
since.
The reasons for this are the quality of the
tracks that we are lucky enough to have
here in Italy and the internationally
renowned seriousness and
professionalism of our organisation. In
fact, when we decided to hold the 2013
season in Italy, the teams responded
enthusiastically”.
Will the ALPS championship continue to
be organised on a predominantly
national basis in 2014, or will there be a
return to more European competition,
like 2011 and 2012?
“Next year, as agreed with the teams
and Renault Sport, we’ll go back to
being an International Series, with 3
meetings in Italy and 4 at prestigious
European circuits”.
What innovations can we expect to see
in 2014?
“Both the teams and the drivers are
happy with the format as it is now, so we
have decided to limit ourselves to a few
minor modifications designed to contain
the annual budgets. On the Friday of
every race weekend there will be 2 hours
of free testing, instead of 3, resulting in a
reduction of the costs associated with
wear and tear on tyres and use of the
track and the car. We are also working
on new media marketing projects and on
consolidating the technical and sporting
support structures for the
championship”.
