|
Personal |
|
| Name: |
Nicola Arena |
| Age: |
**** 35 |
| Marital status: |
Single |
| Children: |
None |
| Occupation: |
50% codriver - 50% weatherman |
| Place of birth: |
Genova (Italy) |
| Country or county where
you live: |
Italy |
| Does your spouse / partner
like rallying? |
***** most of them do! |
| Any other hobbies? |
Not a lot of time.. I like
listening to music, reading, spending evenings with friends and beers
or with friends and good food! |
|
Your opinions |
|
| Favourite food: |
Pasta |
| Favourite drink: |
Beer |
| Favourite motorsport paper
/ magazine: |
Tuttorally |
| Favourite sports person
(other than rallying): |
Lance Armstrong |
| Favourite film star: |
John Belushi |
| Favourite holiday destination: |
Iceland |
| Which TV sports programmes
do you watch? |
there's never rallying on
TV…. if I have time I like to watch bicycle races |
|
Starting out |
|
| How did you start out? |
I was 3 months old and my
parents drove me to see my first rally… I have seen WRC rallies
in the 70's and I was used to read Autosprint since I was 8 years old….
So I attended a co-driver school when I was 18; I don't know if
I would have ever started, but few months after the school a friend
told me there was a guy looking for a co-driver and I never stopped
since then!
|
| First driver you sat with: |
Pino Spagnolo (the guy mentioned
above) in a Autobianchi A112 Abarth |
| First event: |
Rally della Lanterna in
Genova - 1988 |
|
Rallying background |
|
| Type of licence held: |
International |
| Which motor club do you
belong to? |
Scuderia 90 |
| Do you contribute towards
your rallying? |
No |
| Have you ever driven on
a rally? |
** 3 years ago, in a rallysprint
close to my town, co-driven by one of my former drivers: very funny! |
| Did you ever marshal on
events? When and where? |
I did it in the past, but
now there's no time left |
| How many events do you get
to watch? (eg. per year) |
Now, not more than 2 or
3 |
| How many rallies do you
take part in? (eg. per year) |
** In 2000 - 21, that's
my personal best, normally between 10 and 15 |
| Have you competed abroad?
Where and when? |
I have been in most of **
WRC rallies and in most of the main EC events. ** I also took part
in the Asia-Pacific championship in 2002. |
|
Your opinions (rallying) |
|
| Favourite rally car: |
Ford Escort RS 2000 group
4 |
| Favourite rally driver: |
Ari Vatanen |
| Favourite rally co-driver: |
I have to learn from everybody |
| Favourite bit of road or
forest: |
Colle d'Oggia (Sanremo Rally) |
| Do you prefer pace notes
or map reading events? |
I never tried map reading
so the answer is easy, but I would like to experience it! |
| Things you dislike about
rallying? |
It's too expensive **
and I don't like the direction WRC is taking. |
| Who do you think will win
the World Rally Championship in 2001? |
I would like Carlos Sainz
to win it, but I'm not sure he could do it |
| ..... and in 2003? |
** Marcus Gronholm, again...... who else? |
| ..... and in 2004? |
**** as you can see I can never guess
the winner so I'm not
going to say any name, in order to protect someone's climb to the title! |
|
Rallying history |
|
| Drivers you have sat with: |
The most important (not
just for their fame) have been:
Enrico Pagano - Andrea Maselli - Gigi Galli - Valter Ballestrero
- Arnold van der Smeede - Enrico Bertone - Marco Cavigioli - Nico
Caldarola - ** Roger Feghali, **** Corrado Fontana, Alfredo De Dominicis,
Aaron Burkart, Luca Cecchettini
Experienced testing with Andrea Navarra and Renato Travaglia.
|
| Best driver you have ever
sat with? |
too hard to say |
| Best result: |
1st overall in
Albena Rally (Bulgaria) but there have been many results with small
cars that have been harder to achieve: from this point of view I like
to remember 1000 Miglia 98 in the Cinquecento kit (with Ballestrero)
and Sanremo 98 in the Corsa group A (with Maselli) |
| Worst result: |
This is very hard to say…
I could just say that every retirement is a bad result. |
| Championships contested: |
Various regional Championships
in the first years,
2 times the Fiat Cinquecento European Challenge,
2 times the 2WD group N Italian championship,
one Italian gravel championship,
** 2001 the Asia-Pacific rally championship
** 2002 Junior WRC
**** 2003 Italian Fiat Stilo Cup
2004 Junior WRC |
| Best Championship result: |
2 victories in Fiat Cinquecento
European Challenge,
one victory in 2WD group N championship |
| Best rally memory: |
There are too many emotions
to explain them in few lines |
| Strangest incident on a
rally: |
A monkey crossing the stage
on Malaysia or (less exotic) a spectator falling on the grass while
running in a national rally many years ago… I had to laugh in
both events! |
| Biggest accident: |
Maybe the biggest one was
during recce in Deutschland Rallye 1997: we had a big crash on the
Nurburgring circuit
** Had a few days after filling in this form for the 1st time;
multiple roll in Rotorua Rally (Whakarau Stage)... got partially knocked
out by hitting the cage with the helmet.
|
| Achievements gained from
rallying: |
I learned to work hard for
reaching my target; I learned that working hard is not enough to reach
your target and I learned to accept this; I had to deal with thousands
of persons and for someone that was really shy that's a great result;
I had the chance of travelling more than ever, seeing places where
I would have never been, getting in touch with different people, different
way of living. |
|
Your current performance |
|
| Your current driver(s) and
events or Championships being contested in 2001 |
Nico Caldarola - Asia-Pacific
Rally Championship in a group N Mitsubishi.
I'm also taking part in some rallies of the Fiat Punto kit Cup in Italy
with Andrea Maselli. |
| .... and in 2003? |
** Now, it's December 2002 and there
are not many plans for next year.... looks like WRC is going to start
without me.. (sigh!). I have a very good chance though and I
hope it turns out to be true. Anyway, I hope to be involved in
an International Championship |
| .... and in 2004? |
*** I am competing in the Junior WRC
co-driving Luca Cecchettini in a Renault Clio |
| How could you improve your
‘own’ current performance? |
Remembering that a co-driver
never stops learning and that it's important to listen to everybody's
experiences |
| How could you improve your
current driver’s performance? |
**** I would just say that he needs to
increase his experience |
| If you had £50,000 to spend
on rallying, what would you do? |
5-6 rallies of the European
Championship with a good N3 car: I'm sure it would be a great experience
for any driver |
|
Your future in rallying |
|
| Where would you most like
to compete (in the world): |
Iceland is lovely, and I
think Middle East rallies should be fascinating, would like to try
US as well |
| Which rally would you most
like to compete in? |
My favourite events are
Tour de Corse and Great Britain, it's a shame they changed so much
from the past… |
| Which driver(s) would you
most like to co-drive for? |
Don't know |
| Ambition in rallying for
the future: |
Being firmly in WRC is a
dream more than ambition… |
| What would you like to put
back into rallying? |
The best thing I could do
is probably to teach something to younger co-drivers, that's what I
already try to do |
|
The future of rallying |
|
| Which up-and-coming rally
driver can you recommend? |
** at the moment, there
is no-one in Italy I could bet money on |
| Which up-and-coming rally
co-driver can you recommend? |
Mitia Dotta (co-driving
Ceccato in super 1600) |
| What would be the best tip
you could give to other co-drivers? |
Keep on learning, be patient
and wait for the right chance, try to take part in as many rallies
as you can… there are so many co-drivers that after few experiences
simply don't want to go with small cars. You have to become a good
co-driver and this can be achieved only with experience. |
|
Any other comments |
I'm pleased
to have been asked to join this huge group of famous co-drivers…
surely more famous than me! I think to be the first Latin too,
I'm very proud of it! |
Posted 14/6/01
updated 19/12/02 (items marked **)
updated 23/2/04 (items marked ***)
updated 8/3/04
(items marked ****)
updated 14/4/04 (****) |
| Latest news |
|
Another gravel
event with Cecchettini next Saturday,
Coppa Liburna. It's a nice rally and competition should be fierce
there even if it's not part of the Italian Championship. Then we should
rest up to Acropolis.
I should be doing
a good part of the European Championship co-driving the Italian driver
Marco Cavigioli. The car has still to
be defined but probably would be a S1600. We should have started the
opening round, Italian Rally 1000 Miglia, in a Pug 306 Maxi but the
engine broke down on the scrutineering day.... so I wouldn't say that
this programme seems to be lucky... Next
rally is in Poland, end of May, and in a couple of weeks everything
should be defined.
I never told
you that I have a website
too...
Ciao!
Nicola
14/4/04
|
|
Rally Tutta Terra
Toscana, opening round of the Italian Championship, was just partially
positive... we were scoring very good times and we were quietly leading
the Under 25 when, under heavy rain, we hit a concrete block hidden
in the mud and ripped off one wheel...
Nicola
8/3/04
|
|
This year I am
competing in the Junior WRC co-driving Luca Cecchettini in a Renault
Clio.
He's
a young guy (as everybody else in the championship, of
course!) and we are trying hard to improve last year performances
which were not extremely good. I'm relatively happy with
the 2nd half of our Monte
Carlo Rally
from this point of view.
Next
week we'll be in the opening round of Italian
Championship
in order to increase experience on gravel.
Moreover,
I'm looking for something to fill the gaps in the calendar,
especially as this year I have more time off from work!
I've also been in Arctic
Rally
and it has been a wonderful experience!
Nico
23/2/04
|
| The last weeks
haven't been so full of rallies as the previous ones. Furthermore
I started few days ago to work on a different contract and now I would
probably have to reduce the number of rallies I can do :(
Anyway, the season in the Junior World
Rally Championship with Roger Feghali is going on. We had a big disappointment
in Greece anyway... I hope we could recover from the next event!
I am also involved in a small program
in Italy with Valter Ballestrero in a 206 S1600. He's a very good
driver but this is the first time he has a chance with a bigger car.
We scored good times in the previous rallies but we crashed 2 times
in 3 events. So next rally will be very important to prove we can
do well ... and seeing the finish line! The rally will be next week:
Rally Appennino Reggiano. It's an event of the B-championship.
Nico
4/7/02
|
| First of all:
"Happy New Year!". I had no more time to provide you a report
of the second half of the Asia-Pacific Championship that I followed
as a team co-ordinator with better results (2 overall victories, and
2nd place in the overall championship.
From Monte Carlo Rally I should start
my new adventure in the Junior World championship co-driving the Lebanese
Champion Roger Feghali in a Ford Puma tuned by Astra Team (the same
team Martin Rowe will drive for).
Nico
|
