Pietro Casillo: “How can one not be in love with touring cars?”

Looking back on how I became a journalist and joined TouringCarTimes I can say nothing but “I’m lucky”! I know many of you readers would like to do what we do, although it’s not as easy as it may seem. If you really love motor sports, though, you forget the struggles, the fact that you have to work at weekends and it basically cuts your social life away, and you just love what you do.

I think five years, or even ten years, may well be down to luck, but when you reach such a milestone you need to have a super team. As for me, I am so proud of being part of it and the recognition we get all over the world testifies the quality of our work and pays all the sacrifices back.

My first story for TouringCarTimes dates back to 2009, so I am in my seventh year with TcT, but my love story with touring cars started much earlier, even before I was born. My father Carlo is a racing driver, and in the ’80s he raced in the Formula Fiat Abarth (we still have that car) against the likes of multiple Le Mans winner Dindo Capello and touring car legend Nicola Larini. By the time I was born, he had switched to touring cars, driving in the glorious Campionato Italiano Velocità Turismo, with a Group N Peugeot 205. Incidentally, the championship was in the support package of the Italian Superturismo. Pure racing!

When I was a kid I witnessed the legendary fights between BMW, Alfa Romeo and Audi works teams – and I couldn’t help being a true Italian fan by supporting Alfa. I vividly remember the huge crowds at Vallelunga, all shouting the name of Fabrizio Giovanardi who thrilled the fans on his Alfa Romeo 155, with Emanuele Naspetti in the BMW and Emanuele Pirro driving for Audi. At that time Italy was the heart of touring car racing, so much that the current FIA World Touring Car Championship ultimately originated from that series.

Years later I started writing for an Italian website called Stop&Go. Two years later I saw an advert on TouringCarTimes.com as they were looking for new writers, and I applied without too many hopes of joining the website. You can imagine my delight and surprise when Rob Veltman wrote back and said I could start trying to write a few stories for TcT, and I must say I was a little worried, the task was not easy as I had to keep up with high expectations. I had been a user of the website, so I knew the quality required to be part of the team was very high.

Rob in the first place and Johan shortly after made me feel very welcome. It was not long until Neil Hudson joined, and by that time we were a very strong team already. As the years went by, I had the honour and the pleasure of relating to high-profile drivers, finding out they are very high-profile people as well. A true champion is so not only on track, but in life as well, and I must say that I was surprised with how easy going some of the drivers are, people I had looked up to when I was a kid.

I was lucky enough to be quite eclectic in terms of series I followed. WTCC, ETCC, BTCC, DTM, Superstars Series and now TCR are the ones I remember the most. Witnessing James Thompson’s European crown in Franciacorta was a thrill, and so was seeing Colin Turkington clinch his maiden British Touring Car Championship title at Brands Hatch in 2009. I have seen live the epic final three laps at Vallelunga in the EUROV8 Series, as well as Fabrizio Giovanardi winning in the Porsche Panamera S in the Superstars Series.

The biggest thrill, though, was probably Monza, 2010, FIA World Touring Car Championship. Some may remember the race as one of the most surprising touring car finishes ever, certainly the most dramatic I can think of.

Gabriele Tarquini was leading in his SEAT León, with Chevrolet’s Rob Huff all over the back of him. In the media centre, we were all prepared to see a fight until the last inch between the two, who had a considerable gap over the two BMWs of Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus, in the order. On the last lap, before Variante Ascari, a tyre on Tarquini’s León exploded. To add further drama to it Rob Huff suffered from the same problem coming out of that corner, but it was not over!

Huff was trying to get to the finish line, and the track marshals were waving the yellow flags due to wild card Leonel Pernía’s Chevrolet Cruze standing in the gravel after an off. Priaulx and Farfus were ready to overtake, but due to the yellow flags at Parabolica, the last corner of the track, they had to stay behind the Chevrolet Cruze, adding more suspense. Both were smart enough not to make the mistake of getting carried away and overtake the slow Cruze, which they did as soon as they got out of the corner, with no more yellow flags being waved on the straight. Amazingly, Huff managed to finish in third behind the shocked BMW drivers who claimed an unexpected 1-2, while Tarquini took his SR-Sport SEAT to seventh. A penalty handed to original Independents’ Trophy race winner Mehdi Bennani gave Harry Vaulkhard his maiden win as well.

The thrill was incredible. The Italian fans were ready to celebrate home hero Gabriele Tarquini for a win, but the last-lap drama prevented them from doing so. I have seen so many races, but I remember that as thrilling because it is the example of the unpredictability of touring car racing, the fact that you can’t be sure of anything until the last yard, and Huff telling the tale of a smile that disappeared very soon from his face. He thought he had the win in his hands when Tarquini had that puncture, but then he suffered from the same problems. Sport in general, and motor sports in particular, can be very cruel. That’s part of the show though.

How can one not be in love with touring cars? They are a demanding lover, it takes time away from you and it can lead you to thinking about nothing else, and yet we travel all around the world to witness these fantastic shows and tell you readers the tale of our favourite sport. It’s only love!