Ivan Capelli tells how he began in karting and made it all the way to Ferrari F1.

"My dad and I decided we wanted to give karts a try after watching coverage of a karting championship on Swiss TV.

I was 14 and we headed to the shop without knowing a thing and ended up leaving with a 125 cc, for sure not what you want a kid to start on!

Sometime later my dad found the phone number of the CIAK (Centro Italiano Assistenza Karting / Italian Karting Assistance Center). He called them up and they confirmed that, yes, I needed a different kind of vehicle.

So we headed to the Parma track, walked inside the shop and sold the 125 for a 100 Cadet kart, the hot new thing for beginners back then.

I did my first lap right there with help from Gianni Mezzadri and Vittorio Marzi and... I laughed the whole way around.

I was so happy to be at the wheel of my very own go-kart in Parma that I bounced from corner to corner like a drunk driver, grinning from ear to ear.

Parma ended up being where I came of age as a rookie, learning about the"...