Alex Zanardi, guest of honour at CRG’s

ALEX ZANARDI AT CRG’S.

“I’m pleased to be here together with Giancarlo Tinini and his family – said Alex Zanardi – for the CRG prize-giving ceremony. In fact, I cannot help remembering that I won my first national title on a CRG kart. It’s been so exciting meeting my old friends, but I’m not a nostalgic person: if I had wasted too much time looking back at what I had left behind, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all the good things I’ve achieved so far. Anyway, I must say I miss a bit my old days, especially when I look at my picture on a kart hanging from one of the walls of this room and then I see all these young drivers, with all their career in front of them… I must confess I feel a bit jealous. I’d like to be one of them, ready to “quarrel” with my kart and to do all those things which, thanks to my good luck, I’ve been able to do and which have been so exciting for me. I share lots of these wonderful memories with the CRG people. Besides, I can proudly say I was the first driver of the CRG era, because the other drivers of my team still raced on Kalì Kart. And I was the first driver who won on CRG, given that we won the 1986 Italian Championship of the 100 International A just a week after I had joined the team. It was such an incredible sensation, because I had just been through a series of disappointing situations in DAP, which was the most important brand of that period. Then, in just one week, I managed to win on CRG, putting behind me – from second to fifth – all those Dap-Dap, with all those drivers who, just a week before, had been my teammates. It was an incredible joy.
 
– Now your name is on one of the chassis which keeps on launching great champions…
 
“Yes, but all the merit goes to Dino Chiesa. I think Iwas clever when I talked Dino into taking care of the Zanardi Kart line when Giancarlo Tinini, at the end of 2005, told me that Dino could do it. We immediately arranged a meeting and I realized how he found the project exciting. Then, his skills and CRG technology brought outstanding results. I’m flattered when I think those results have been achieved under the patronage of my name. Among the drivers who have raced on our karts it is worth mentioning De Vries: he has recently finished his experience in karting, winning for the second time the World Championship and the WSK Euro Series. He is, according to my opinion, a very talented boy, and I think he would win anyway. However, when you join together the strength of people such as Dino Chiesa and of companies such as CRG… It is not simply a matter of appeal: there is real quality underneath, great skills. We are talking of real hot stuff. I think Nyck, this year, has been supported by his flawless talent but also by the best possible equipment and the best possible assistance: that’s why he has been able to get unprecedented results. He has simply won everything there was to win. At the moment, talking of very young drivers, we are making Lance Stroll get the experience he needs. He is a very promising talent and he has his head screwed on. I’ve been positively struck by the modesty and the application of this young guy: they are the foundations for all, especially in such a sport. Anyway, I’d like to see some Italian guys on our karts, someone who can stand out at international level. It would be really great !“

Info & Photo CRG Press Office