2016 CIK-FIA Best-of: Paolo De Conto on a cloud in the Worlds

A double European Champion, Paolo De Conto had long dreamed of adding a world title to his record. He almost did it in 2015 at Le Mans (FRA) where he led the Final until the last lap where the ultimate battle deprived him of the title he hoped for. The Italian took sweet revenge this year at Kristianstad (SWE). His happiness was palpable on the podium and in the moments that followed he was overwhelmed by a very moving and deep joy, while congratulations for his performance came from everywhere.

Paolo, when did you start karting?
– Very young! I come from a family of motorsports fans. My father was even a rally driver along with his brother. One day, he took my sister and I go karting. I must have been 4 or 5 years old, I don’t know exactly. Obviously it was fun and I immediately wanted to go further. My father bought me a kart and that’s how it all started. I was already fast in baby kart, I won the regional championship twice, then three times in junior. I made my international debut in 2007, in the KF2 category for two seasons, to discover the next level and to learn the circuits. I’ve always been attracted 125cc gearbox and as soon as I could, I raced in KZ2, from 2009.

Did success happen easily?
– In a way, yes. I had a good period to start with Energy Corse. I especially won European KZ2 then then KZ1 titles in 2010 and 2011. Then, it was a little complicated before returning gradually with CRG in 2015.

How did the Worlds go this year?
– We knew that the equipment was very effective before arriving in Sweden. The European race at Genk confirmed this. We were confident from the first running on the Kristianstad track. I secured pole position in Qualifying and I won everything afterwards. But the Final wasn’t easy because I didn’t have a very good start. Marco Ardigo, Lorenzo Camplese and Anthony Abbasse started better than me. It is not particularly easy to overtake at Kristianstad. But I knew that and I never expected to do it. As soon as I was catching an opponent, I was pushing. It was the only solution. I ended up joining Anthony who was leading the race and I managed to go past as well. The worst was over, I could outrun them and win the race with the fastest time.

It’s a nice revenge for me after the disappointment of last year. Now I can say I’m World Champion and it will change the situation!

Info CIK-FIA / © Photo KSP