December 19, 2023: Davide’s season had a challenging start but took off with two spectacular victories at Monza and Vallelunga, securing him the third position in the final standings of the highly contested G2 TC 2000 category. In his 2023 season, there is a bit of regret and hope for the Alfa Revival Cup in 2024.
“The season didn’t start in the best way. In the first qualifying of the first race at Mugello, we had an engine failure, and we had to skip the first two championship races (Mugello and Red Bull Ring).
We only returned at Monza and won two races. The rest of the championship was good; unfortunately, losing the first two races penalized me, keeping me behind in the standings.”
Let’s shift our focus to your partner in adventures, a beautiful Alfa Romeo GTAm. Can you tell us its story?
“My car was born in 1997 as a Group 1 and won the Italian Historic Car Championship for two years, from the late ’90s to the early 2000s. After those successes, it remained dormant for some time until we resurrected and transformed it into a GTAm. The car was already ours, and my father raced it in the early competitive period, along with the tuner Cesare Gatti.”
After the initial sporting successes, your Alfa Romeo GTAm returned to the spotlight with you.
“The preparation work was completed around 2017, and that’s when I started racing in the Alfa Revival Cup. I had already started racing in the Italian Historic Car Championship with another Alfa, a Group 1 GT, which we still own. With the GTAm I currently use, I had my first experience in the Alfa Revival.”
From the way you describe your cars, is there an Alfa Romeo heart beating in the Bertinelli family? Is the tradition of the Arese brand strong in your household?
“Yes, we have a small collection of Alfa Romeos in the family, including the one I race with and the first Group 1 with which I made my debut on the track, plus a few other models.”
What made you choose the Alfa Revival Cup by Canossa?
“The championship is great because we get to race with many cars that have similar performance, leading to competitive races. In other historic championships, there’s much less competition because, in the end, there are many classes, and everything is a bit fragmented. Here, we are more compact as a group, and the races are balanced.”
Races like Vallelunga 2023 are proof of this. You, Daniele Perfetti, and Roberto Restelli battled for more than half the race, closely following each other, in perfect equilibrium. Even at Monza, you won in the midst of a last-minute duel with Franco Monguzzi.
“That’s right. At Vallelunga, the three of us were in a battle. At Monza, we fought for victory until the last moment, and the outcome was very uncertain. I won’t comment on the other races because I was absent, unfortunately. But balance is a constant in the Alfa Revival Cup.”
Is there another factor that enhances the fun and the qualities of the drivers?
“Another great aspect of the championship is the tracks, all of high quality. In this regard, I have a great regret for not being able to go to Austria, to the Red Bull Ring, a track I don’t know. Unfortunately, the broken engine was not yet ready, and I had to skip that event, to my great regret. This is the regret I have for 2023, and I plan to make up for it in 2024 by going to other beautiful tracks in the Alfa Revival Cup.”
