Fisichella and Belicchi Remember Andrea Margutti
| press release | 28 March 2014 |
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In occasion of the 25th Andrea Margutti Trophy to take place next 27-30 March, Giancarlo Fisichella and Andrea Belicchi remember Andrea Margutti and their victory in the categories 100 ICA and 100 National at the first edition of the Trophy named after the young driver from Rome.
The first edition of the Andrea Margutti Trophy was held in 1990, at the Pista d’Oro circuit in Roma. This is what the first winners of the two classes remember about that race, Giancarlo Fisichella and Andrea Belicchi who won the 100 ICA and the National 100 cc.
Above: GIANCARLO FISICHELLA “I kept Andrea's picture in my racing helmet for several years”
Margutti trophy winner in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994: “I still remember Andrea as if it were yesterday. We started racing at the Pista d’Oro circuit in Roma together when we were 8. We grew up together on the circuits, we were good friends. He is always in my thoughts. He was great, fun and happy. We used to have great fun together, then again at that age all the kids arehappy to be with others, and we were just the same. We practised a sport that we loved. We really got on well. We took part in so many races at the Pistad’Oro, then we starter entering for international events in two different classes, you see he was one or two years younger than me. It was after his death that the Margutti Trophy event was set up and, although I had alreadystarted racing in Formula 3. I wanted to be there at this important kartingevent. I managed to win a fantastic race, I am still very proud of my results. It was an even that brought all the world of international karting together, and I am glad that it is still one of the most important karting races out. I hope that it will keep going for years to come. The first two editions werehosted at the Pista d’Oro, and I won on both occasions. I remember that especially the first edition was fantastic, I really wanted to win, and it was the track where we both had grown up on karts. I worked hard to get first. I knew the Pista d’Oro very well, but I knew that it wasn’t enough to know the track well. I practised hard, I tried to find maximum concentration so as not to make any mistakes and in the end, despite my international rivals I made it. Andrea’s parents were there to hand out the prize, I remember that I burst into tears on the podium. I had Andrea’s picture inside my helmet, and since then I continued to have his picture there for several years.”
Above: ANDREA BELICCHI “The first edition of the Trophy has given everyone strong emotions”
Together with Fisichella who won the 100 ICA, also Andrea Belicchi, who raced in the National 100 in 1990, was there to take home the first Margutti Trophy and then he also won in 1993 in the top Formula A class: “I remember that the first Andrea Margutti Trophy was a great success. It was very exciting for me, because I was Andrea’s friend and I knew him very well, we used to race in the same class. I did well in that even right from the start, qualifiers; I won the heats and then the Final. I remember it was very exciting, we were still very much involved in the sadness of the situation, Andrea had left us only a few months before the event. I wasn’t there on the track in Parma when it happened, I was at school. I heard about the accident when I got home, it was on the news, it was a great shock. His death really hit me. At the end of the first edition of the Andrea Margutti Trophy at the Pista d’Oro, his parents and sister were there to hand out the prize. It was a very touching moment,because we had been friends since childhood, we shared many dreams and hopes for the future. I still remember the strong emotions felt when I was handed the prize. Still today, when I think about my career, I remember the days when I raced in karts with Andrea. It’s not easy to get over some accidents. I continued to race in karts until 1997, and then I went on to car racing. Now I race in the Endurance World Championship and at Le Mans, like Giancarlo Fisichella, with whom I shared Andrea Margutti’s friendship and also the first win at the Trophy event set up in his memory. I am really very proud to have won two editions of this race, which still today is one of the most coveted on an international level.”
Further PR from the event orgainser:
PATRIZIA MARGUTTI REMEMBERS HER SON ANDREA IN OCCASION OF THE 25TH EDITION OF THE TROPHY, SCHEDULED IN LONATO FROM 27 TO 30 MARCH
It is now the 25th edition of the Andrea Margutti Trophy, an event named after the young pilot from Rome who died in Parma on 14th October 1989 while racing apractice round before the “Trophy of the Industry.”
The Margutti was set up in 1990 at the Pista d’Oro in Roma, where the Marguttis came from, but after the first two editions it moved to Parma, on request of Umberto Pellegrini and his family. Umberto Pellegrini ran the track in Parma.
Altogether they held 17 Margutti events in Parma, then, always organised by the Pellegrini’s, they moved the event to Castelletto di Branduzzo for three events and since 2011 the event has been held at the South Garda Karting in Lonato near Brescia in northern Italy.
Here we have Patrizia, Andrea Margutti’s mother telling us about Andrea. This is how she remembers him: “When there was the accident, Andrea wasn’t even 15. This event, the Margutti, means an awful lot to me, not only does it keep the memory of my son alive, but also for what it means on an sports level. I believe that if Andrea hadn’t left something very deep and meaningful, all this wouldn’t have kept going for 25 years. For me, karting is still everything, it is life. First, it was my husband who used to practise karting and then Andrea who started at the age of 2 and a half on a kart that had been made to measure. Andrea continued in a crescendo of success, up to the World Championship in Saragossa, where he did very well up to the Final, when he had to stop due to a mechanical failure, Then a little later there was the fatal accident. He would have been 15 twomonths later. It was his friends who wanted a trophy event named after him set up in his memory. First the Prima’s, then Grieco, Giancarlo Fisichella and all his friends Jarno Trulli, Danilo Rossi, Belicchi, Belletti, Palmieri, Orsini, Venieri and many more. They used to race in the same class as Andrea. The first edition of the Margutti, in 1990, was set up in Rome and there were lots ofentries from drivers coming from different countries. We had to choose another circuit, a bigger one that was more suitable to host the event. The circuits that Andréa liked most were Parma and Jesolo. One day I made up my mind, I went to Parma by myself. I went to the track, it wasn’t easy, but Umberto Pellegrini was very kind, he said: ”Give me a chance to make up”. That was when I decided that the Margutti could be moved to Parma. The only thing that I asked was the concept that makes this event stand out love and respect for the person be maintained. I got all this from the Pellegrinis and we have become one big family. In the early years I was deeply moved by the event, also because there were all Andrea’s friends lined up for the race. However, I have received much love and respect also from the new protagonists and the parents of today’s drivers come and thank me. It is a wonderful sensation. After all, after 25 years, it should be me thanking them.”
