Roberto Sini: "It's a fundamental season for Solaris Motorsport"
Pescara, Italy - The Italian GT Championship is on the way to switch on again the engines for the sixth round of the 2015 season, hosted in the Misano World Circuit. After the good but unlucky performances in Vallelunga, Solaris Motorsport seeks redemption on the track entitled to the MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli. Before the upcoming racing weekend, however, it's time to try making an appraisal on the 2015 season with Roberto Sini, Solaris Motorsport Team Principal, debutant team in the GT World with the Sini and Puglisi's Chevrolet Corvette Z06R.
Roberto, let's do an analysis on this season, how is it going the Solaris Motorsport first year in the GT?
"It was a difficult, with a lot of ups and downs and probably unlucky season. All of us, technicians and drivers, have a lot to learn yet. This doesn't mean we are racing just for fun. In Monza we were protagonists and we gained the second step of the podium, in Mugello we were third before the contact. I believe the the Imola performances was very important for us it was our third race with the Corvette, so we were just at the beginning of our GT experience. We signed the fifth best time and, without the problem on the tyre, we could finish in the Top 5. A very good result for a car as the Corvette on a difficult and curvy track as Imola. And, if we look out to the timing in Vallelunga, we had the chance to be protagonists. We missed the right experience, that one that all other our competitors have. Where we had the possibility to test, as in Vallelunga and in Imola, we saw the results and the gap with the best cars was very reduced. It's a season that looks forward to 2016."
What do you expect from this season finale?
"Keeping to work hard and improving with humility, trying to catch the best result available in each event. This season was very useful to us as a team, the guys have faced the difficulties closing a lot their relationships, as a big family, working all together. We started this adventure in Superstars following our passion, but, year by year, with hard work, diligence and sacrifices, we grow up until to have the choice to fight the professional teams. The human aspect is very important for me, in racing and in the life, because when you have a good feeling with your colleagues you turn out to work more, better. Now I see my guys, all my guys, feel this work not just as member of a team, but being a part of a bigger 'Solaris project'. With this attitude we can point to important results in the future, EuroV8 Series docet."
How much was difficult to switch from a category such as Superstars\EuroV8 Series to the GT?
"A lot, definitely a lot. Because the approach is very different. We built part by part the Camaro and we took care of the development of the Lumina by our own. We knew them very well in each aspect, from the chassis to the engine, to the electronic, to the setups. Building a car, on a your project, gives you the choice to know how and where intervene in case of problem, it gives you to built something on your desire. For sure the GTs are very fascinating cars, but they are very complicated and it needs a longer term to learn and discover all the secrets. You need to test and understand the behaviour, and to do this, you need to race and spend a lot of time. We signed great lap times in our first two tests in Adria and Vallelunga, probably these results made us a little underestimate the commitment, giving us the impression to be already on a good level. But the races brought back us to the reality. The high level of the Italian GT Championship, the great number of fast drivers and important teams made everything more difficult, from a side, but also more formative, on the other side. Having gained the second place in Monza with this opponents is a big results. We suffered a gap of experience compared the other teams and we payed also the fact that there weren't landmarks for the Corvette and it means that every time we had to begin from zero and testing. For a team like us, switching from the EuroV8 Series to the GT3 was a very big step."
Satisfied from the two drivers, Francesco Sini and Marcello Puglisi?
"Yes, sure. I liked a lot their not giving never up, also when, as in Vallelunga, they had to start the race twice from the back. Marcello was a great discover. He came from a long term of inactivity and resuming his career on a tricky car as the Corvette wasn't easy, but he improved his performances race by race. It's a great team-man, he became one of us very shortly thanks to his behaviour. Now he is very close to the technicians and Francesco. It's a very important factor. His driving style and his setup is very similar to Francesco's one, often they have the same ideas on changing and the way to go and this permits us to growing up quickly. Francesco has alway incited the team and gave his maximum on track, but as everyone of us, maybe he can improve even something, We must do experience and this good feeling between the two drivers will help us a lot. I'd like to have both next year too."
What have we to expect to the Solaris Motorsport from the 2016?
"The natural continuation is the GT, may with the brand new C7 keeping on the relationship with Callaway Competition. But we have to wait and see how things evolve, we want to race in 2016 with a competitive car, reliable and maybe easier to bring on the edge respect to the current Corvette. I don't hide that our work has been noticed and appreciated by other manufacturers, we'd want to race in 2016 again with an american car, as our tradition, but we are open to any possibility. We want to point to an interesting partnership, involving in our choices also Francesco and Marcello. Keeping on the Italian GT Championship could be very interesting but, if it should arrive the right occasion, we can value also other options. It will depend a lot from the budget that we can collect with our partners. It's a difficult period and finding sponsor is not so easy. For this reason I want to thanks all the companies that trusted and believed in our project. For sure, we are working on the next season."
The Sini and Puglisi's Corvette Z06R weekend will start on Friday, September 23th with the two session of free practice, scheduled at 12 and 5:35 PM. On Saturday morning the two qualifying sessions – one for each race – at 9:55 AM and 10:30 AM. Race 1 will start at 5:25 PM on Saturday, September 26th, while Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 11 AM. Both the races will be live streamed on the official website of the Italian GT Championship (
www.acisportitalia.it/CIGT)
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