MATTEO BOBBI

GUYS, RACE A LOT IN KARTS

I kept asking him to let me try it. In the end, perhaps with the intent of discouraging me, he put me in it when I was 7 years old. I remember that with the accelerator pressed halfway down, my head was pulled back on the straight stretch. Yet, this excited me even more. So, dad was forced to give in by buying a Lupetto by Kali Kart with a 60-cc engine suitable for an 8-year-old kid. I was driving like crazy and soon I got used to drive the 135 as well. For the first race, though, I had to wait until I turned 12. Maybe that is why I did not have a long karting career”. It was Papis, a driver followed by his dad, who directed Matteo towards the team of Diego Mombelli. “I was driving a PCR 100 Junior kart and I participated mostly in regional races. The first one was in Viverone where I finished second in qualifying and during the race, when I was in the lead, I let my teammate who was going for the Championship pass me. From there, I did more and more races and we also tried the Italian Championship, but we were not properly equipped. Maybe the mistake was not going to an official team, which was the only way to be competitive at those levels. At most I was semi-official for Gold, a young and brand-new team”. Any regrets? “With hindsight, I probably would have needed kart racing at the higher levels. Let me clarify, I am very satisfied with what I did because being able to make your passion into a job is still a great accomplishment, but I think I could have won more if not for my impetuosity in the early years at the wheel. Racing more in karting would have helped me achieve it much earlier”.