Gabriele Tarquini: The Motor Sport Interview

Given better equipment this shrewd Italian would have scored more than a single F1 point. A switch to touring cars ignited his career and now, at 59, Gabriele Tarquini is ready to hang up his driving boots

Gabriele Tarquini portrait
Author

Damien Smith

Yann Ehrlacher, the World Touring Car Cup champion and nephew to Yvan Muller, is 25 years old – which means he was born in 1996. By then, Gabriele Tarquini’s Formula 1 ambitions had spluttered out, he’d conquered the booming British Touring Car Championship and was thriving as a seasoned tin-top pro racing for Alfa Romeo in the high-tech but short-lived madcap world of the International Touring Car Championship. The Italian was 34 in ’96, so hardly in the first flush of youth in relative motor sport terms. This season he was still racing, lining up on WTCR grids to take on Ehrlacher, old rival and now friend Muller (himself 52), plus the rest of the rich talent pool the series is cultivating. Most importantly, Tarquini was also still winning. Then in November, ahead of his home race in Adria, he announced his retirement.

He’ll be 60 in March, but looks younger (although the facemask probably helps) and is clearly in fantastic physical shape. We meet at the Hungaroring, a few months before he called time on his career, prior to a WTCR round where he’ll line up among Hyundai’s quartet of new Elantra N TCRs, still expectant after a win last time out in Aragon, his first since 2019. It’s an FIA series, hence the strict Covid protocols. The familiar bright eyes are smiling above the mask and this gentleman racer answers our questions with the easy charm that so endeared him to British fans in 1994, when he arrived on these shores with Alfa Corse and blitzed the BTCC. His English is better now, but that singsong accent remains just as it always was.

Gabriele-Tarquini-portrait-full-lengthBack in the late 1980s, Tarquini was among the most promising of a pool of rising talent himself, as a golden generation of fresh Italian drivers pushed through: Caffi, Capelli, Nannini, Morbidelli, Montermini, Naspetti, Larini, Zanardi… Some, including Ivan Capelli, Nicola Larini and Gianni Morbidelli, started grands prix for Ferrari, but only one scored an F1 victory – Alessandro Nannini, before the chain-smoking Benetton driver’s top-flight career was severed (along with his right forearm) in a helicopter crash.

Instead of a return to the days of Ascari, Castellotti and Musso, none amounted to anywhere near what Italy expected. As for Tarquini, he toiled in minnow teams that were a waste of his obvious talent: a one-off debut for Osella, a season at Coloni, three years at AGS, one more at Fondmetal in 1992 and finally a one-off cameo for Tyrrell in ’95, by which time he was more attuned to life with a roof over his head. Just 38 F1 starts, spread over nine years, with a single world championship point to show for it: sixth in Mexico 1989. It didn’t amount to much.

Like most of his Italian band of brothers, it was beyond the grand prix paddocks where Tarquini found fulfilment, not to mention a decent living. Along with that BTCC title, he conquered the European Touring Car Championship in 2003 with Alfa, became a world champion in 2009 for Seat, then claimed the first WTCR crown when it morphed out of the old WTCC in 2018, at 56. His is a colourful, enriching and remarkably lengthy racing life, which when we spoke was still very much active – but has now finally bowed to the inevitable.

Motor Sport: You’ve logged all these race starts. How does it feel to you now, all these years later, to still be racing at a world level?

Gabriele Tarquini: “I’ve passed through many different eras of motor sport. When I started there was a clutch pedal and an H-pattern gearbox. It was a long time ago. Racing is different, the cars are very different. But the adrenaline comes from the standing start, from the red lights, the fight – the same. My approach has never changed, I still love racing and I still enjoy it.”

People remind you of your age, that you will be 60 next year. You are clearly in great shape – do you make many sacrifices?

GT: “Fortunately not. I don’t sacrifice my diet, I don’t make a lot of sacrifices to be fast – I’m probably not as fast as I was 20 years ago, but fast enough for a good qualifying and I have probably not lost a lot of speed in the race. I am very lucky, to be honest.”

Gabriele Tarquini under a yellow umbrella at 1988 Monaco Grand Prix

Keeping cool in the Coloni at the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix

Can we take you back to the beginning? Where did racing start for you?

GT: “Everything started when my father rented a go-kart track behind a fuel station when I was five years old. Nobody in the family was a fan of motor sport, but I started playing with these small go-karts. I have a brother five years older than me and we started working on karting. It was an amateur approach. The first laps we did were there and everything started at this track which is still in my family, run for rental karts in Giulianova, my home town.”

How essential was the learning you experienced in karting to your long career?

GT: “Karting was the only school possible for motor sport and it is still the best. When I started it was not common to start at eight or nine years old. In Italy it was impossible to start racing before 14. Now it is much easier, but the approach is the same. Part of the mechanical understanding I learnt in karting is working also now. It was a very good school in learning how to drive and how to set up a kart or car.”

Who inspired you in your youth?

GT: “In my first ‘professional’ race in 1978 I met Ayrton Senna in San Marino. He was a very young Brazilian living in Italy racing karts and I immediately realised he was someone hard to fight, very difficult to beat. But I didn’t race against him: he was in 100cc and I was already in 125cc.”

You won a world karting championship in 1985, then you had a rapid rise through Formula 3 and into Formula 3000. How did you have such momentum?

GT: “It’s a very strange story. My attitude at this time was that I enjoyed karting too much and I didn’t want to race in cars. I started in karting very early and I won three Italian championships. My world was go-karts, it was everything. I started being a professional driver – not making money, but not spending my own – which was a big gain in my career.

“Then a friend invited me to test a Formula 3 car at Misano and he forced me into it because I didn’t want to. It was an old Chevron dating back to 1976 or ’77 and it was now 1983. I wasn’t interested, but he forced me because I was an Italian champion. In the final minutes of the day, I used his helmet and jumped into the car – and the love started. The first lap I made I loved the car and said to him, ‘I need to race it.’

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“To race in F3 you needed to go through the Italian federation school to have a licence. Fortunately, I was one of the best young drivers of 1983 and they selected eight drivers for the final at the end of the year at Misano. At this time there was Nicola Larini, Alex Caffi, a lot of young, talented drivers – and nobody knew me because I’d never raced cars, I was coming from go-karts. I jumped in the car and I was the best one, so they selected me as the best of the young Italians. The Italian federation helped me a lot, also at Imola in 1987 when I made my Formula 1 debut because they paid for the car Osella ran for me. The team was running only one car, for Caffi, but the Italian Federation paid for an extra car just for this race. They also paid for me in F3000, so I received a lot of help from them, a little like the Elf scheme that helped the French.”

Gabriele Tarquini sits on March of Paul Belmondo at Imola

Tarquini hitches a lift to the pits on Paul Belmondo’s March at the 1992 San Marino Grand Prix

What are your memories of Imola in 1987?

GT: “Again, it’s a very strange story. We qualified 27th and at this time only 26 cars were allowed to enter the Grand Prix. Everyone at Osella knew the car was very old, it was impossible. But Nelson Piquet had his big crash, at the same point at Tamburello where Senna would die, and the doctors said he could not race. Because of his accident I was allowed to race in the GP, even if I was very slow and the car was not able to finish.”

It was a half-hearted debut, wasn’t it? But to race as an Italian at Imola must have felt very special.

GT: “I never dreamed to be in Formula 1 when I started karting and I was thinking this would probably be the first and last for me, because I didn’t have any sponsors. I came from a normal family. I was thinking that’s it, so I enjoyed this race. But I was really unhappy with Enzo Osella because he gave me an old car. Many years later he came to me to say sorry for this race. He received a small quantity of money to take a car from a museum probably to let me enter.”

Your F1 career lasted years, but always in cars at the back of the grid. It must have been so frustrating knowing you were better than that.

GT: “It was a hard moment to be in F1, especially with pre-qualifying. Mentally it was very hard because you had to survive pre-qualifying just to make it to qualifying. Some years there were 40 cars. It was very hard to get on the grid. I was always driving for a small team so just to be on the grid was my target. It was hard for the sponsors because it was like you didn’t exist. Even your passes were provisional, for one hour. If you miss the pre-qualifying you go home. If the journalists, media, sponsors came to the grand prix they did not see you. But I always enjoyed my small teams with a target to be on the grid, except my last year with Fondmetal [when he retired from every race bar one].”

F1 Fondmetals of Andrea Chiesa and Gabriele Tarquini

Tarquini, foreground, with Fondmetal team-mate Andrea Chiesa at Kyalami in ’92. Tarquini qualified 15th on the grid; Chiesa would be a spectator

Every now and then you still managed to shine. You scored a point in Mexico in 1989. But did you lose heart?

GT: “My first season with Coloni was difficult but at some tracks we put the car on the grid. I never scored points, but once I finished eighth [he started five grands prix that year, finishing eighth in Canada] – although points then were just for the first six positions.

“The best car to race is a touring car. It’s like boxing “

“The next year I made a strange deal with First Racing that never appeared in F1, so I replaced at AGS Philippe Streiff who had a big accident in Rio [Streiff was paralysed in a pre-season testing crash]. For the first part of 1989 it was the most competitive car I drove, even if it was the 1988 car. I was surprised how good it was and the first part of the year was very good for me. In the first qualifying session in Monaco I was fifth and I had a good race until I had an electrical problem. I could have been on the podium in this race. But from then on it got harder and harder because the team was very small, the money didn’t come. I probably spent too much time at AGS.”

1991-AGS-F1-car-of-Gabriele-Tarquini

Practice at the 1991 US Grand Prix at Phoenix with AGS, typically bothering the back of the grid

You were part of a rich generation of Italian drivers whose surnames all ended with an ‘i’! What was the rapport like?

GT: “I think the maximum was 13 or 14 Italian drivers in F1 [there were 15 in 1990]. It was very tough to have the space in the media and to attract sponsors. But we had a very good time. We shared everything, we travelled all together and spent a lot of time together away from the races. I have really good memories of holidays and still have some good relationships from that time. I was close to Larini, Nannini and Riccardo Patrese, but the closest one was Larini.”

Touring cars gave you a profession, a career. Did you realise F1 wasn’t going to happen for you?

GT: “I started saloon car racing for money, to be honest, because the money for me in F1 was only very small. The first time someone offered me money to race a saloon I jumped at it. Then, year by year, I enjoyed it more and more. I always say that the best car to drive is an F1. It can give you an extraordinary feeling on the track, so fast in the corners, so late on the brakes. But the best car to race is a touring car, because the fighting is very different. From this time I started to enjoy the racing, without a lot of stewards! There was a lot more action than now. It’s like boxing. You are always close to your opponent.”

Gabriele Tarquini leads 1994 BTCC start

By 1994, Tarquini was scoring win after win in the British Touring Car Championship with Alfa Corse, racing alongside fellow Italian Giampiero Simoni

But as our readers will remember, there wasn’t much fighting on track in 1994 when you came to the BTCC with Alfa Romeo and dominated. And there was a lot of controversy with aero parts raising the game…

GT: “My first championship I won in cars was the BTCC and this title I can compare to my world title. At this time, the BTCC was the best championship to race in. I remember in 1994 there were 10 different cars and manufacturer entries. The level of drivers was unbelievable. If I must choose one title I always have a big fight between my world title in 2009 and the BTCC, because I have very good memories.

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“The season was controversial because of the legality of the front and rear downforce we had. It was my first season in the UK, I’d never been to these small tracks and also I came to understand the passion of the British people. I came from Italy where 90% are Ferrari fans. In Britain, it’s completely different and so is the support for this category. In Britain you can feel the passion. For me the UK is the base of motor sport.”

We must ask you about your famous barrel roll in the Alfa at Knockhill during that 1994 season.

GT: “It’s probably the worst memory of 1994! I won a lot of races in the beginning, the first five. Then in July we went to Knockhill, the first time for me. Very strange track! The Fiat president was visiting us for the weekend – and I rolled in front of him! It was not a good weekend. But I learnt a lot about these small tracks around England. I’d never been to Snetterton, Knockhill, Oulton Park. The reality for me was it was not only Silverstone, Donington and Brands Hatch, but also these small tracks. That’s why you cannot learn like the British drivers. It was not my biggest accident, but it was my most spectacular!”

Wrecked Alfa romeo 155 of Gabriele Tarquini in BTCC

Tarquini wrecked the 155 at Knockhill

We all loved you when you were over here. But around that time you also had a season in the ITC, the high-tech era of the DTM in 1996. What were those cars like?

GT: “Fantastic, probably the most exciting I ever drove. At this time everything was allowed. You had automatic gearshifts, automatic ABS, lots of electronics, electronic differential. It was a really complicated car. I had to start understanding computers because by that time everything was computerised. It was a very good season and I won the British round, which was very good because it was the first win for the [ JAS Motorsport] Alfa Romeos that year and it was at ‘my’ Silverstone! Everyone said, ‘You know the circuit,’ but it was not that – the car was very good.”

Gabriele Tarquini

Tarquini learnt quickly in the BTCC

During that decade, the Super Touring boom imploded. What was it like going from the high-tech era to a new generation of lowerspec cars in the early 2000s?

GT: “The cars were totally different – much cheaper! The ITC cars were like F1. The budget for Alfa Romeo with eight cars was like a middle team in F1, more or less. The cost was unbelievable. So everybody started from zero and we built up these new categories. The ETCC at this time was very good. The cars looked cheap compared to DTM, but that doesn’t matter in touring cars. It was good enough to have fun behind the steering wheel and the fighting was very strong, especially between Alfa Romeo and BMW. After my Honda period in the BTCC and in Germany I came to the ETCC with Alfa Romeo, replacing Fabrizio Giovanardi who had gone to BMW – and I won in my first year, which was very good.”

That must have been special, to win the ETCC with Alfa.

GT: “It was, especially because the last race of 2003 was something special for me and for the history of touring car racing because it was the first for Alex Zanardi. He joined at Monza and on the Sunday there were 80,000 people, probably 40,000 to see him. It was a very good atmosphere, probably the most exciting race of my life. People were supporting me because I was racing for Alfa Romeo again in Italy against the BMWs with the German drivers.

“I had a very tough moment in qualifying because I was last. I made a mistake in qualifying and went off on my first lap. I started last with Jörg Müller, my competitor for the title, starting on pole position. I was lucky and very good in the race and achieved the title [Tarquini finished third in the race].

“Zanardi joined the championship after that and I had the opportunity once to jump in his car beside him at Imola years later because I was curious to see how he drove [with hand controls in the wake of his IndyCar crash in 2001 when he lost both legs]. I didn’t watch the road like other passengers, I was watching his actions in the cockpit. It was something very hard to understand because I know what you need to drive a fast car and to be on the limit, and Alex was not in the best condition to drive on the limit.”

Gabriele Tarquini leads in 2009 WTCC race

Tarquini on the inside line in a Seat Leon at Porto in his title-winning 2009 WTCC season

You’ve mentioned your 2009 WTCC title. What did that season mean to you?

GT: “A lot. Because in 2008 I lost to Yvan Muller. I had a lot of fights with him, especially in the last race in 2008 and 2009, and later in 2018. But the relationship with him was always very good. Out of the paddock we are friends, in the paddock we are competitors, but we were always very honest with each other and very fair. I’ve never had an accident in my career with him in 20 years. That means respect that goes both ways.”

It’s always a buzz to see you and Yvan Muller on the grid before a race because you have both shared so much, and it’s wonderful to hear you’ve got that great relationship with him.

GT: “He’s a clever guy, very fast, one of the best opponents I’ve had, especially in the final part of my career. It’s always a pleasure to fight with him.”

Lada Vesta of Gabriele Tarquini in WTCC

Lada Vesta in 2016

Gabriele Tarquini with Yvan Muller

2018 WTCC champion Tarquini, right, with title rival Yvan Muller

Let’s bring things right up to date. You won another title, the WTCR in 2018 and you developed the Hyundai i30 N that ended up being so successful. That was your project, wasn’t it?

GT: “Yes. In 2015 I was fired by Honda – to be honest because they thought I was too old! I was very close to retiring. I was 53 then and the last season with them wasn’t very good. I agreed with them that they should change the driver line-up. If you don’t achieve what you want you have to change something. Probably for me, it felt like the moment to stop. But after the last race I said, ‘No, I don’t want to stop like this, I want to choose the time.’

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“I had a chance with Lada, starting with a small Russian team which was a new challenge for me. No one in the team spoke English, except two or three top managers. But to keep my mind young I said to myself, ‘I can do it.’ I won two times in the Lada, including the Russian round, and that was a great season. I enjoyed it a lot. Then they decided to stop.

“Hyundai came along and the timing was really good because the first thing they asked me to do was to develop the car. They wanted to do their first racing car for the circuits, the i30 N TCR, and we started from zero. They needed an experienced driver and I was on the market, and I’ve known Andrea Adamo [Hyundai’s racing manager] since the Alfa Romeo times.

“The car was very good. We spent a lot of time on it with the right engineers, the right team, the right budget. Everything around me was top level. And in September after three or four months of development I told Andrea, ‘The car is ready to win and we can join the championship.’ They signed me only for two races because I was old – I understand it. I won their first race in China in 2017 [a round of the TCR International championship], which for them was a big achievement. Then we discussed 2018. I signed – and won the WTCR. OK, the age is there, but the speed was there as well – and the i30 N was a great car, probably the best of 2018 and 2019.”

Gabriele Tarquini in cockpit of Hyundai i30 N

Inside the Hyundai i30 N TCR that Tarquini developed for the WTCR, and raced from 2018-20

The WTCR is competitive, with a good mix of young and mature drivers. How do you rate it in the context of your long career?

GT: “The level of the drivers is high. Some of them are young, like Luca Engstler [who is 21], then there’s Mikel Azcona [25] at Cupra who is fast. In my era you didn’t start your career thinking about touring cars. You started dreaming about F1. When your way to F1 is blocked because of sponsors or politics, you go to saloon cars. Now, especially in England, it is popular for people to aim for touring cars and it’s also happening in the rest of Europe. People are starting off thinking about being a professional touring car driver, which is why this era is strong.”

Has racing been more enjoyable for you in later life, because you’ve experienced everything that the sport can throw at you?

GT: “Yes. For me now, I enjoy it much more than when I started my career. When you start you need support, a sponsor, you are always thinking about the future. Now I can avoid the negative things and enjoy the rest. I enjoy it much more now than I did 20 years ago. Sure, we know my age, but in the past 10 years I have always decided at the end of each year what to do. [Tarquini announced his retirement in early November. His last race was set to be the final round of the WTCR season at Sochi on November 27-28].”

Hyundai Elantra N of Gabriele Tarquini in 2021

Today Tarquini is driving the Hyundai Elantra N TCR – but there’ll be no title in his final season

You must have other interests, but it’s hard to imagine you not involved in the sport.

GT: “The secret of my long career is that I don’t have any interests outside of motor sport. I don’t have any other business at all. Nothing even part-time. I concentrate on motor sport 100%. It is the only activity I know and for this reason it would be hard to survive without motor sport. So if I stop you’ll probably still see me around.”

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