CIK Best-of 2014: Clivio Piccione

“Karting has taught me to never give up” A former driver from Monaco aged 30, Clivio Piccione made his promising start in karting in 1997. Four years later he was CIK-FIA Vice World Champion in FA and finished 2nd in the FA World Cup in Japan, behind Lewis Hamilton. Quickly moving to cars, his […]

FIA Karting Best Of FIA Karting

“Karting has taught me to never give up”

A former driver from Monaco aged 30, Clivio Piccione made his promising start in karting in 1997. Four years later he was CIK-FIA Vice World Champion in FA and finished 2nd in the FA World Cup in Japan, behind Lewis Hamilton. Quickly moving to cars, his career has had its ups and downs, often for financial reasons. The Vice-European Champion in F3 in 2004, he tried his luck in GP2 before giving up after the bankruptcy of A1 GP in 2009. He then turned with some success to the FIA World GT1 Championship with the Hexis Racing team before hanging up his helmet, again for budget issues. He has now come back to karting as the owner and manager of Team Monaco.

The course of your career in motorsport has not always been simple …
– Indeed! I had some successes, but also a lot of difficult moments when everything stopped because of lack of money. But it never discouraged me and I managed to get out every time. Karting taught me early on that you have to fight to the end and not let go, both on track and in life.

Tell us about your karting debut.
– This sport has given me the most beautiful memories of my driving career. I actually started in Italy in the Junior category. Then I won the Open Master Championship in ICA. In 2000, I missed the world title at Braga in FA because of a small mistake on the last lap. It was hard to digest! At Motegi for the CIK-FIA World Cup for Formula A, I made a superb recovery to fight for the victory with Hamilton, but he won. I was given the last Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup to reward this comeback. The passionate atmosphere of the kart tracks made me want to become a professional driver.

Tell us about your recent conversion to team manager.
– When I finally retired from driving in 2012, I started work in business, but I soon realized that I could not do without competition. I started modestly with the establishment of a temporary track for electric karts over the summer in Monaco. Then I started working in the south of France with regional drivers. Created as the basis for the Monaco A1 GP Team, it is now a karting team with progressive development. In parallel I opened the first indoor circuit in Monaco, also with electric karts. I moved to the other side of the fence, but I’m still in the centre of racing. I work especially with young drivers with whom I share everything I learned in motorsport.

How would you like to change karting today?
– I did not see significant changes during the 10 years that I spent in cars apart from the arrival of electric and electronic components that are often problematic. For me, karting should be much more accessible than it is. It takes a lot of money to continue in motorsport, so it would be nice if budget was not as important in karting. The incessant search for engine performance is too expensive.

(Extract of the CIK-FIA Best-of 2014)

Info CIK / © Photo KSP

Publié le 20/02/2015