The initiative of CSAI in collaboration with Ferrari Driver Academy directed by Luca Baldisserri aimed at selecting the most promising young drivers of the Italian CSAI Karting Championship to insert them in a professionalizing path toward motor racing is continuing.
In the stage of Val Vibrata the selection coordinator was Giancarlo Minardi (CSAI's observer), together with Luca Baldisserri (Ferrari Driver Academy) with the help of some delegates of the CSAI Federal School of Vallelunga, like Renato Leporelli in Viberbo, Andrea Piccini in Lonato and Enrico Toccacelo in the race of Sant´Egidio alla Vibrata.
In the last race the three drivers chosen were: LUCA CORBERI (14 years old from Lonato, racing in KF3), NICOLÒ BALSAMO (14, Como, KF3) and ALBERTO DI FOLCO (15, Rome, KF2).
Meanwhile, the first six drivers chosen have been invited to Maranello for the 5th and 6th of September for the psycho attitude test. These drivers will be Gianni Vigorito (15, from Avellino), Alessio Santilli (16, from Pescara), Mattia Vita (14, from Lucca), Nicola Marcon (16, from Jesolo), Antonio Fuoco (15, from Cosenza) and Federico Pezzolla (15, from Fasano).
"The first six drivers will have their first stage in Maranello - Giancarlo Minardi declared - and this experience is very interesting for them and for us. I believe karting is vital for the future of a driver and this ACI-CSAI and FDA project will allow us to get some important parameters to work on in the coming seasons. The project is supported in parallel by ACI-CSAI and FDA obviously with two different strategies but with the common objective of finding out who is the absolute best driver. Lately this talent scouting is getting wider, as an example we can cite FIA's seek for talents, and in this context I believe that the ACI-CSAI initiative to partner with Ferrari can grant the best resources to make a child grow up to become a driver".
The selection will end next 2 October in Ortona (Chieti) with the last round of the Italian CSAI Karting Championship.
The 3 selected drivers of Val Vibrata:
LUCA CORBERI, 14 years old, from Lonato. The young Corberi has been bred in a family contributing to the development of karting in Italy with the circuit of Lonato, designed and built by Luca's grand-father Angelo and now managed by his father Marco. Luca started with racing in karts with the Trofeo Rok, first in the Mini, where he won the World Final in 2009, to move the following year to the Junior Rok and then to KF3, where he obtained a prestigious second place in the International race of Macau. This season has been his first complete year in KF3 and, particularly in the first half of the season, he has been one of the major protagonists. In race he has been judged to be extremely fair, he speaks Spanish and English. Luca will take part in the KF3 World Cup.
NICOLÒ BALSAMO, 14, from Como. Nicolò Balsamo started very early in the 50 Baby, then moved to the Easykart Trophy at 9 racing first in the 60 Easy and then in the 100 Easy, where he won the World Final of Siena in 2009. From 2010 he has been inserted in the programme of Birel Motorsport in KF3, where in the debut year he has run a total of 18 races in the European Championship, WSK Master, Nations Cup, Italian Open Masters and the World Final of Easykart in Castelletto. In 2011, again with Birel Motorsport, he is racing in the Italian CSAI Karting Championship with very good results. He also took part in the WSK Master and in the selection for the European. He will also be racing in the KF3 World Cup.
ALBERTO DI FOLCO, 15, Rome. He started racing in the 60 Easykart of the Birel Trophy where in two years he won the Champions Trophy, the Regional Championship and the Italian Championship. Alberto then moved to KF3 with team PRK where he ended 12th in the Italian Open Masters Championship getting close to the podium in several occasions. In 2011 he made his debut in KF2 with team RTM and raced in the Italian CSAI Karting Championship as well as in the European, in the WSK Master (where he won in Siena) and in the latest race of the WSK Euro Series in Zuera. Starting from the last race of Sant´Egidio alla Vibrata he moved to team Formula K. Alberto will take part in the KF2 World Cup.
ACI Sport
Press office
In the picture: from left to right, Luca Corberi, Nicolò Balsamo, Alberto Di Folco.
