Motor Racing / David Scheiderer : Italy’s Barilla Is Making a Name for Himself, Fast
For Paolo Barilla, the talented 24-year-old race-car driver from Parma, Italy, the family’s pasta business could wait. There was another calling that had first claim on his hopes and ambitions.
“In Italy, motor racing is one of the most popular sports--because we have Ferrari,” Barilla said. “My goal was to be a racer since I was about 10 years old.”
From the moment he began racing go-karts at 14, Barilla was hooked and embarked on a career that would take him on a steady progression of faster cars and more demanding competition.
In 1980, driving in the Formula Fiat class, he finished 10th in the Italian national championships. In 1981, in Formula III, he claimed his first racing victory at Varano and finished third in the Italian championships.
Barilla continued to move up in competition in the next three years, but not always ahead. “It was a good experience, but not good results,” he said. “We were racing against more powerful cars, but my car was not always competitive.”
But, Barilla’s talent did not go unnoticed. In 1985, he was invited to join the Joest Porsche 956 team and he teamed with West Germans Klaus Ludwig and John Winter to win the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans, France.
“That was a fantastic win for me,” Barilla said. “It is very important in Europe. It is not Formula I, but Le Mans is like a Formula I victory.”
Barilla, Winter and Ludwig each drove two-hour shifts at Le Mans.
“We were in first place from the early hours and all the time there was pressure. I could lie down but not sleep.
“But, that night, I fell asleep at the awards ceremony; they had to awaken me to receive my prize,” Barilla recalled.
Following that race, Barilla secured a brake shoe from the winning car, cleaned it up and had it mounted, a trophy of his first major victory. More brake shoes would follow.
Now well-launched on the sports car circuit, Barilla won the German championships at Nurburgring and finished third at the Hockenheim and Spa races. He also began to see the world, driving in Malaysia, Australia and Japan. He did not make his U.S. debut until this January and it was not what he had hoped.
Driving for the Bridgestone/Bayside Disposal Racing Team on the International Motor Sports Assn. circuit, Barilla made his first U.S. start in the 24 Hours of Daytona on Feb. 1-2. He went out after six laps when his distributor failed.
However, success was not far off. Barilla and his driving partner, Bob Wollek, the French international long distance expert, won the IMSA Grand Prix of Miami on March 2, beating Danny Sullivan and A.J. Foyt to the finish.
Wollek drove the first two hours and pushed the team’s Porsche 962 out to a 45-second lead. In the final hour of the race, Barilla did just what he was supposed to do--don’t hit anything and don’t blow up the engine--and brought the Porsche to the checkered flag with a 29-second victory.
Barilla will race at Monza, Italy, this weekend and return to the United States--he figures to make as many as 14 round-trips across the Atlantic this year--for the April 6 IMSA race at Road Atlanta. He will be at Riverside International Raceway in the April 27 Los Angeles Times Grand Prix of Endurance. Do the dangers of the ever-faster cars and competition concern Barilla?
“I know it is dangerous, but not when I am driving,” he said quietly. “When I moved up, I was always impressed with the speed. But after one race, it is OK. When I am racing, I am not aware of the danger. My job is just to go fast.”
There is plenty of time to return to Parma and the family pasta business (an older brother, Guido, is running the business and a younger brother, Luca, is studying marketing at UCLA). For now, he will race.
There is no IMSA race on May 25, and Barilla hopes to make his first visit to Indianapolis to see the 500-mile race.
“The first time I go to watch,” he said. “Perhaps, the second time I race.”
SPRINT CARS--After more than a year of trying, the sprint car team of owner Alex Morales and driver Jeff Heywood finally hit the winner’s circle in last week’s opening race at Ascot Park. Instead of a joyous celebration, Heywood and Morales came to a parting of the ways and, as a result, the famed Morales Bros. “Tamale Wagon” will have a new driver for Saturday night’s California Racing Assn. program at the Gardena track. The new man is no stranger to Ascot, or the winner’s circle, although he has been an infrequent competitor the past year. In fact, when Norman (Bubby) Jones returns to the track he and retired Dean Thompson dominated for five seasons, he will be the winningest active driver in CRA with 66 main event victories. Thompson posted more than 100 wins before hanging up his helmet at the end of last season. Set to welcome Jones back to the Ascot wars will be Rip Williams, runner-up to Heywood last Saturday; current CRA champion Eddie Wirth, who is driving the Kathy Lewis machine that Jones drove most of last year; Brad Noffsinger, and Mike Sweeney, who failed to finish last week in his Ascot debut as Thompson’s replacement in the Bruce Bromme sprinter. . . . Two-time national sprint car champion Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., will drive in the second annual Spring Nationals at Baylands Raceway Park in Fremont, Calif., Friday and Saturday nights.
STOCK CARS--The NASCAR Southwest Tour opens at 7 p.m. Saturday with the Saugus 100-lap feature on the -mile Saugus Speedway. The Saugus 100 is the inaugural event in a new series for stock-appearing sports-type cars of American manufacture, such as Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Thunderbird and Dodge Daytona. Engines are limited to 358 cubic inch displacement. Ron Esau, winner of the 1982 season-opener, predicts competitive racing: “Instead of one person running away with things and maybe one or two guys chasing, there’ll be 10 guys running for the victory. The rules have been structured so that there is more competition and everybody runs closer together.” . . . Curb Motorsports Winston Racing series for pro stocks, bomber figure 8 and oval cars will be held Sunday at 7 p.m. at Ascot Park.
MOTORCYCLES--Speedway racing begins its 18th season at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa Friday night with the season opener highlighting a 16-race card. National champion Alan Christian of Huntington Beach tops the list of Division One drivers. Racing begins at 8 p.m. . . . Christian will be back in action next Wednesday at Inland Motorcycle Speedway in San Bernardino when he will go up against current California state champion Steve Lucero. The Inland Empire track will be opening its 12th straight season of speedway competition. The first flag falls at 8 p.m.
MOTOCROSS--A CMC event is scheduled Friday at 7:30 at Ascot Park. . . . The opening round of the U.S. Suzuki-sponsored CMC motocross Spring Classic will be held next Wednesday at Ascot Park, the first event of four nights of racing at the Gardena plant.
