Given his status as a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, with a remarkable record of 10 outright podiums at the event, you’d have imagined that Rinaldo Capello would choose the French circuit as his favourite track. But a long-forgotten test at Imola, which ‘Dindo’ believes was instrumental in putting his name on the map, means it’s the current host venue of Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that stands out above the rest for the 59-year-old Italian.
“Imola, for me, has been a big part of my career, because the only reason why I could race in Formula 3 without any sponsors and any money was due to a test I did with Prema Racing,” Capello tells Autosport at Monza before commencing his duties as grand marshal for the recent World Endurance Championship race. “Imola has always been my favourite race track.”
Imola will forever be remembered for the tragic events of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which transformed attitudes towards safety in motorsport and resulted in considerable changes to the layout too. But Capello, who admits to a preference for anti-clockwise circuits such as Laguna Seca and (in its pre-2007 configuration) Misano, believes Imola today is no worse off for them. He enjoys in equal measure the challenge presented by the modern layout and the original, with the flat-out Tamburello and kink before the first braking point at Tosa’s left-hand hairpin.
“Even after the changes they made, after the terrible accidents of [Ayrton] Senna and [Roland] Ratzenberger, it’s still keeping its own character,” he says. “The chicanes they made to make the Tamburello corner slower and the Villeneuve corner slower are just not the classic zig-zag but something you have really to drive.
“Tamburello chicane you have to get in slow, and then the rest is in acceleration. The next one's entrance is very, very fast and actually between the left and the right there is a braking point for the exit. It’s completely the opposite compared to the first chicane they made.
“Apart from that, I remember it has always been the most demanding track for braking and fuel consumption. And, for me, it’s in Europe the best race track together with Spa.”
Capello’s crucial test that smoothed his progression from Formula Fiat Abarth in 1985 came after a back-to-back comparison with British karting ace Mike Wilson aboard Prema’s Ralt-VWs. Wilson was already a three-time world champion for the Birel factory team and exploring a move into car racing.
Source: Autosport