MEMORABLE ACCIDENTS

FORÈ & PICCINI - 1999 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN CAROLE

Buckle up and take a step back over 20 years with us, with an imaginary time machine. The date: 29 August 1999. The place: France. Near the immense Paris "Charles de Gaulle" airport there is a small 2,055-metre circuit reserved for motorbikes which was lent to karts for the occasion. The circuit itself was illegal. Well, this is not absolutely true, it would be today, given that the FIA ​​Karting regulations impose a distance of 1,699 metres as the maximum length for approved tracks (such as the Zuera, so to speak). But at the time there were no such problems and therefore Carole, this is the name of the circuit, organised a race for us on that date. The race: the world championship reserved for Formula C. What is Formula C? The most powerful 125cc karts (with gears) in the hands of the fastest and most experienced drivers. This is Formula C, in the present day we call it KZ. And in fact, the entry list is one that made people take a step back at the time, let alone if you reread it today with hindsight, in light of what those names have achieved inside and outside karting in the subsequent years of their careers: Ronnie Quintarelli, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Danilo Rossi, Francesco Laudato, Sauro Cesetti, Ennio Gandolfi, Andrea Belicchi… But the drivers who were to leave an indelible mark on this race, at least on a par with the winner, were two others: Davide and Alessandro. Forè and Piccini.