Italia: Kristian Ghedina - Coloni Motorsport interview

KRISTIAN GHEDINA GUEST OF F. 3000 ITALIAN TROPHY IN IMOLA: SOON TO BE AN OFFICIAL TEST WITH COLONI MOTORSPORT, WAITING FOR HIS DEBUT IN THE MOTORSPORT WORLD!

Downhill champion and symbol of the Italian ski team for the upcoming Torino Olympics 2006, Kristian Ghedina was in Imola to watch the 4th round of the CSAI F3000 Italian Trophy, by invitation of the Organiser Coloni Motorsport.

Ghedina announced he will soon perform an official test with the F3000 car of the Coloni team, which this year also participate in the GP2 Series - with drivers Gianmaria Bruni and Mathias Lauda. Kristian Ghedina followed with great interest the championship race and the manoeuvres of the young talented drivers and he stated he was impressed with the level of the competition on the track and with the professionalism of teams and drivers. Ghedina does not deny he is thinking about a competitive future inside a single- seater at the end of his skiing career, and so he looks with great interest at Italian F3000, the top category for Italian autoracing.

Kristian, how did your love for autoracing begin, when did you start thinking about a "four-wheeled" future at the end of your skiing career?

Since when I was a little boy, I always loved engines and I would have liked to become a professional driver, but, living in Cortina, I became a skier. I will probably end my competitive career as a skier and I would like to start a new one as a driver.

Downhill and autoracing: they look as two similar universes, with in common speed, pure competition, overcoming of physical limits. The human factor is essential to your sport: what is it which fascinates you in the autosport world, which similarities do you see with skiing?

I am fascinated by the speed and the pursuit of perfection in driving. Similarities with skiing are, without a doubt, the study and research for the lines, or, as you say in autoracing, for trajectories.

The "driver Ghedina" on track is alike to the champion Ghedina on the skis, or is your approach different?

I always love competition. But, right now, engines are more stimulating for me, because it is a world yet to be discovered. As a skier, sensibility is my greatest asset: as a driver I will also try to use it, but keeping my bottom on the seat.

Why many athletes, who are successful in their own sport, decide afterwards to run in car races, like Juri Chechi, Daniele Massaro or Valentino Rossi?

I think that many athletes are fascinated by the engines world, and that pushes them to try their hand on autoracing. As for myself, racing cars make my adrenalin boil.

Your ex-rival Luc Alphand is now a successful driver and, during the last years, has been taking part in the Paris-Dakar, coming close to winning in 2005. Do you want to challenge him in the African deserts, or will you invite him to the track for a duel between F3000 single-seaters?

I would like to challenge my old friend Luc. In 1995, at the last race, he stole the Downhill World Cup from under my nose. But I am more attracted to the track and the high speed, than to the desert. Maybe I will challenge him at Le Mans, where he's been running for a long time. But I could also run with him in his team, since he already offered me one of its three drives.

You already drove a F3000 car at Adria: how did you feel in the cockpit, are there any similarities to the feelings you experience during a downhill race?

I thought the high-velocity would impress me more. The excitement was alike to what I felt skiing many years ago: very strong! Riccardo Patrese, who was accompanying me, and knows me since my childhood, tells me that today I looked like a child again

The CSAI F3000 Italian Trophy, organised by Coloni Motorsport, is the top championship in Italian auto-racing, in which run the more talented drivers, who aspire to F1. What do you think about this championship, will we be seeing you on the track next season, driving a Lola B02/50 - Zytek?

I can't answer yet, because I will surely be running with my skis till March 2006. At the moment I am considering a few possibilities with sport cars racing. I may well be running in the F3000 Italian Trophy. I will be able to decide only when all the possibilities will be clear, then I will understand which is the best arrangement for me.

What advice can you give to the young drivers of the F3000 Italian Trophy, what are the suggestions from Kristian Ghedina to emerge in competitive sport?

Never give in and be confident of your own strength.

Very soon you will perform an official test with Coloni Motorsport's F3000 Lola B02/50: with what ambitions and aims?

I am very happy to be able to perform a test professionally with Coloni, that for many years has been bringing its drivers to F1. My aim is to get to know the car better and to understand if my future can lie in that direction.

What do you think about the interesting fight between Raikkonen and Alonso in F1 World Champioship? Will Michael Schumacher be able to catch up and can he hope to battle for the Championship till the last race?

Raikkonen and Alonso, two very different temperaments, are two exceptional drivers, and both of them drive a very competitive car this year. I think that Schumacher can manage to get closer to them in the standings, but in the end I think we will have a new World Champion.

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