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Alfa Revival Cup. The protagonists of 2023: Emilio Petrone

Emilio Petrone was one of the stars of the 2023 Alfa Revival Cup, teamed with Giacomo Barri. With his GTAm, he placed fifth in the class ranking (G2TC2000), despite missing the first round of the season, at the Mugello Circuit.

January 11, 2024: The performance of the Petrone-Barri duo was excellent throughout the season, always in the leading positions, but the one final high note that would have allowed them to stand on a well-deserved podium was missing at the end.

“We always came close, we took the “wooden medal” a few times, with two fourth places, and the podium was just within our reach at Vallelunga, but it always slipped away.”

 

Why did you decide to race in the Alfa Revival Cup?
“Because I like racing with cars that need to be driven, with a real gearbox and clutch and unassisted braking.
The Alfa Revival Cup is also an amazing championship with official FIA approval, highly competitive but still fun to drive if you approach it with the right mindset.
It is a professional and extremely well-organised championship, and the arrival of Canossa has led to the introduction of new tracks on which to race. For example, we had the Misano Circuit all to ourselves, and we had an amazing event at Monza with the WEC, as well as other exciting events on major racetracks.”

 

Of all the cars on the track, you race with the most high-performing one, in the various categories of the Alfa Revival Cup. What led you to choose the GTAm model?
“I raced for a few years with a GT Sprint 1600, then with a GTA, and the GTAm was really the peak of my climb to the height of competitiveness.
The GTAm is currently the most competitive car in the Alfa Revival Cup and the most fun to drive, because it has slick tires, broad wheel rims, dog clutch gears and an extra powerful engine. Basically, it is really enjoyable to drive and an absolutely amazing car”.

 

Is there one aspect, in your opinion, that required a certain strategy to be used in managing the weekends?
“Yes, the tires. The Pirelli tires we used need to be managed carefully. The one-hour race is the maximum duration of these tires. We always ease around corners in the last ten to fifteen minutes of the race.”

 

You share the car with Giacomo Barri. How do you manage the race events?
“Besides being much younger than me, Giacomo is a professional driver and an extremely skilled test driver from whom I learn a lot.
Now that we have state-of-the-art on-board telemetry and video, I can learn a few secrets from Giacomo.

When it comes to management of the races, we usually split them in half and take it in turns.”