Driver Blog: Tazio Torregiani - CIK Academy Trophy-Portugal

David Cole · Last edited by David Cole on Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total

This weekend, Connecticut driver Tazio Torregiani will be the first American to compete in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy series. The first event of the three event program is this weekend in Portugal. Tazio and his father will be posting updates as they travel to Portugal and compete in the first event. The following is a look into Tazio and the official test weekend they took part in last month.

http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=20587
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Jim Maxson · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:36 pm Post subject:

Go get them Taz. Wishing you and your family the best of luck.Have fun and enjoy the experience.

Tazio98 Torregiani · Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 53

We are getting ready to leave for Portugal on the 4th of July. I had Tazio's new Bell helmet painted just in time from Shark Signs, which we should receive Tuesday. I look forward to meeting Tazio's Tuner/coach Pino Cutillo. He is Italian but lives just outside the Braga track in Portugal, and knows the circuit very well. He came highly recommended from Mr. Parolin, and tuned for many racing greats including ex-F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella. We visited the Braga kart track last time we were in Portugal in 2008 for a CIK-FIA world championship race, and it was amazing as a spectator, now it's hard to believe that we are entered as a competitor.

Patrizio Torregiani
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Bobby Greene · Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:38 am Post subject:

Good luck!
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Tazio98 Torregiani · Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 53

Thanks for the good wishes, hopefully lady luck will be on our side.
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Tazio Torregiani
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Tazio98 Torregiani · Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 53

The first round of the 2012 CIK-FIA Academy Trophy will begin this weekend, and will be at a kart track in Braga, Portugal. I've begun to pack for when my dad and I are going to leave tomorrow on the 4th of July. Sadly I will be missing the 4th round of the WKA Man cup national in Southbend Indiana, since it's the same weekend as the race in Portugal .I will especially be missing all my good friends at Man cup, good luck to all of them. Also I will be getting my brand new suit from FIA colored blue and silver which all the Academy drivers will receive. And I will get to meet my new tuner named Pino who lives right by the track and knows it like the back of his hand.
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Tazio Torregiani
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Patrizio Torregiani · Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 10

Today was Friday open practice for the first round of the 2012 CIK FIA Academy Trophy. The International Kart track in Braga, Portugal, is a phenomenal track, and not easy to learn, very technical. Everything was run very professional and on time. One thing that I noticed is that here they don't do safety tech inspection on the kart, which at this level surprises me. They don't care weather you have safety wire, or if your driver wears a neck brace or not.
Each driver got a total of four 15 minutes practice sessions. On the first one we were pretty fast for our first time here. The second one we went even faster. On the third one we retired with a broken chain on the second lap, which we really didn't need. By the fourth one the track was already full of rubber and everyone went slower. We tried a different set up which didn't work and we couldn't even repeat our previous fastest time. We changed our set up back to they way it was, and we are hoping we can find the pace again in the one morning warm up before qualifying tomorrow.
One thing that is very different here is how quickly the track gets rubbery and sticky. I never remember a track this sticky just after a Man Cup Friday. Learning how to drive just as fast in these conditions is key for any American looking to race in Europe.
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Patrizio Torregiani
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Patrizio Torregiani · Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 10

Yesterday, the first round of the 2012 CIK FIA Academy Trophy in Braga Portugal came to an end. We had a clean weekend free of accidents and spin outs. The only small incident was a broken chain which costed us a free practice session. Tazio had three practice sessions on Friday to learn the track and find the speed. We didn't do bad, considering Tazio's lack of experience with the environment. Saturday morning the rain came and the track was soaked. We had our only free morning practice on wet tires. When it was time to go out for our 8 minutes qualifying the track was almost totally dry and everyone went out with dry new LeCont tires. These changing conditions didn't agree with us as we were still in learning mode, so we couldn't post a fast enough lap time. The format works just like the SKUSA Supernationals, with three qualifying heats in each group, with 24 drivers each heat race. Tazio started 21st in his three heat races. In his first heat race Tazio had a brilliant start avoiding a first turn accident and making several passes, finishing 10th out of 24. You can see this result at the following link:
http://www.cikfia.com/competitions/cik-calendar/2012/braga/academy/results/result/seventh/day/second/article/academy-1.html.
The second and third heats were not as good and Tazio couldn't manage better than 17th and 19th, which meant that after all the results were added, Tazio was outside the top 28, and outside the Final A (the main final). This meant that he would race in Final B. He started in 8th out of 19, had a bad start and dropped to 11th, but came back to finish 8th. The drivers that were really on top form were mostly European drivers that are currently competing in all major KF3 European championship. There is no questions that this crop of drivers are among best 13 to 15 year old drivers in the world. They were all very fast and made no mistakes. To race among them was an incredible experience. The next race is in France next month we are hoping for a better result. To see photos from this event click the following link to our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.417887511586190.87375.248819618492981&type=3
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Patrizio Torregiani
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David Cole · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:27 pm Post subject:

Thanks Patrizio and Tazio for the updates. We hope the next round brings better results.
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Tazio98 Torregiani · Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 53

Recently last weekend I completed the first round FIA Academy Trophy. It was such an experience to drive with and on such a different track, kart, drivers, conditions and rules. The tracks in Europe I've noticed have no elevation or very long straights just sweeping turns followed by corners or a heavy braking hairpin, unlike in the US where the turns are flat out followed by a straight and there's elevation on every single track you go too. The motors and chassis they have in the under 18 world championship are all very unseen in the US like the Art Kart, MS chassis or even a Zanardi surprisingly, there were no big teams or chassis manufacturers like Tony Kart, Birel or CRG in that series. Everybody uses the same up to specs KF3 motor in the Academy and U18 championships. The drivers aren't just some local racers going to a big time race just to see what's it like. They are the best in the world from each country, no one makes mistakes they drive clean, professionally and agressive, they aren't reckless. Weather is about the same but track conditions are much different, the track gets extremely sticky within 4 practice sessions and is difficult for lots of people if you don't know what your doing with the setup. When I say rules I mean procedures, how things run, standards. There's a driver's presentation where all the driver's come to the front stretch represent their country take photos and shake hands with some of the steward's and marshals which was very cool. Each and every qualifying session is 8 minutes. There are 3 heats just like the SKUSA Supernational' they add up your finishes and decide whether you made it to the final or not. Only 28 drivers make it to the main "A" Final. Starting lights as the green flag and you must stay in your racing line until the lights go off or you get a penalty of 3 to 10 seconds depending on how much of your kart was out of the lane. If you don't make it to the "A" final there's a "B" final which gives less points though. After qualifying and each heat race you must take off the wheels you have used and your race fuel to a holding station then before the race starts again you put them back on, and the cycle starts all over again till Sunday. Sunday one warm up session takes place then the Finals and the day is over with a massive podium presentation, which goes on with sparkling water, spectacular trophies and national anthems. Followed by press conferences and media.
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Tazio Torregiani
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