“A record 256 Grand Prix races achieved but I still want more!”
Q&A with Italy’s Ricardo Patrese
The inaugural Altech Grand Prix Masters South Africa race takes place in Kyalami on 13th November. What is your motivation for competing in this championship?
Well although I haven’t raced for more than a decade I was invited to drive at the Goodwood Festival of Speed recently and really enjoyed having a steering wheel in my hands again. That got me thinking about how good it would be to drive a competitive race car in a competitive series again. And then Grand Prix Masters came along! The series will give racers like myself exactly what we want – competitive motorsport in powerful cars on legendary circuits. Very simple!
You hold the record for driving in more Grand Prix than any other driver [Patrese competed in 256 F1 races], which means you will have raced against all the other Masters at some point. Who are you particularly looking forward to racing against?
It’s true that I raced against people like Emerson Fittipaldi at the start of my F1 career and obviously was still racing the likes of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost towards the end. It’s just so exciting for me to be racing alongside these true champions. They are all old friends and I am really looking forward to racing every one of them. How competitive do you think the drivers will be? The idea is that we should aim for close, exciting racing but in an atmosphere that is fun and relaxed – something the drivers and spectators can both enjoy and interact with. But you are right. We are all competitive people in our own right so it will be interesting to see how different drivers approach the challenge. It’s been a good 10 years since I last raced a single-seater, so I think I will have to take my time, get back into the rhythm of driving and then see how we fare. Making predications in this instance is far from easy!
These powerful cars will require the drivers to be extremely fit. How have you approached the physical fitness side?
That’s easy for me because I have never stopped being actively involved in sports. I am involved in competition show jumping and ride horses at least three or four times a week, which keeps me pretty fit, so from that point of view I am not anticipating any problems. I also have a go-kart which is actually a pretty good ‘gym’ for drivers because it helps you build up the muscles that really get worked when you are cornering quickly.
What do you think of the Grand Prix Masters car?
The thing that most appeals to me is the fact that we will all have identical equipment. I’ve visited the Delta Motorsport factory (Northampton, UK) yesterday for a seat-fitting and HANS device installation and saw for the first time the Masters car. It looks very impressive! Everything seems to be on schedule and in very good order.
