ONIDI: “I WANT TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP TO RACE IN GP2 ASIA”
In 2008 he fought Nicolas Prost for the title until the last race, stopping only two pointsbehind the frenchman. In this season he won immediately, in the series debut round inPortimão, and he is runner-up in the championship, four points behind the leader MarcoBonanomi.
So, Fabio Onidi is without doubt one of the stars of the 2009 Euroseries by PartyPokerchampionship for the second year in a row and, with three events done and other three tobe contested, the moment has come to make an assessment about the season so far.
Did the first part of this season go as you expected?
“Well, I hold the second place in the championship and I’m very near to Bonanomi who’s theleader, so I think that we must absolutely be positive. Anyway, looking at the start of the2008 season, when I managed to climb immediately at the top of the classification and tostay there for a bunch of races, this year I was expecting something more.However, the level of the championship has raised: we contested six races and we ad sixdifferent winners, wich means that there’s a great balance between us and that thechallenge is even more hard”.
You had a good start, with a win in Portugal, and than you cliniched two secondplaces, in Magny-Cours and Zolder. Three podiums in six races is a satisfyingaverage or not?
“No doubt that we can say that, also because there are some important things to remember.Don’t forget that in this year I changed team, passing on to Fisichella MotorsportInternational, and this required an adaptation period, just to understand how to work withthem in the best possible way. Besides that, also the new car is behaving in a different way,compared to the last year’s one, so I had to work to find the feeling again. Now that thisnew ‘learning’ phase has ended, I think that I can gain the winning momentum for thesecond part of the season”.
You mentioned the 2009 car. In wich way the Lola B05/52 is different from theold one?
“As the driver’s level has raised this year, also the car is raising the bar. With 100 bhp moreit’s more challenging for the driver, with a slight oversteer. It has more downforce wichmakes it more stable in the fast sweepers but, in the meantime, makes it more ‘physical’ todrive. But the important thing, to sum up everything, is that it’s a lot faster than the oldB02/50”.
Let’s look a bit at your past seasons. From 16 to 18 you raced abroad: it’s anunusual choice for a young italian driver. Do you think that this experience hasbrought you some advantages?
“Well, I think that it allowed me to grow faster. I raced in the German Formula Bmw for twoseasons, then in the F.Renault Uk for one season. There, despite the young age of thecompetitors, I had the occasion to face two highly organized environments both for whatconcerns the championship and the team’s work. So, I was able to immediately learn what’sneeded to become a pro. Besides that I think that racing abroad is more difficult than doingthat near home: you have to face a different language and lots of other troubles, and alsothis helped my growth”.
Back to today: we’ll have three races until the end of the season, Valencia,Vallelunga and Monza. What do you expert from this three tracks?
“I love Valencia and Vallelunga. The first one is a challenging racetrack where the driver cannever relax. It’s a very technical circuit, where you have to find the right pace through thecorners sequences in order to achieve a good laptime. Then there is Vallelunga, a fast trackthat I appreciate a lot, while I never drove a racecar in Monza. I know that it’s a bit odd,especially as I live in Milan, but the Euroseries 3000 races will be my first ones on the Italiancircuit, and a fast and powerful car like our Lola isn’t the best car for getting in touch with it.Anyway, I’m sure that Monza will host the final struggle for the title, so I will give everythingand do my best”.
You were the runner-up in 2008, so your only objective can be winning the title…
“Absolutely. Not only because it would be a great satisfaction and a vital achievement formy future racing careeer, but also because of the prize. Winning a full funded season in GP2Asia would be very important in order to get in touch with the GP2 world and would allowme to drive a racecar for the whole winter, the best way to train for 2010”.
