09/05/2007

Pietro Fittipaldi, at age11, a new star on the race tracks

In his last 28 races, Pietro finished on the podium 24 times, with 18
victories, 3 second places, and 3 third places, won pole positions
in 10 of 14 qualifying sessions, and won the Easykart 60cc
Championship.

In a year in which, at age 22, Lewis Hamilton is emerging as the new phenomenon in Formula 1, a new name is emerging in international car racing, with potential of being Hamilton’s successor: Pietro Fittipaldi.

At 11 years old, Pietro, sponsored by Bringer and Moura Automotive Batteries, is already building a successful career. In this year alone, in the 28 races in which he participated, he already won 18, 3 second places, and 3 third places, in a total of 24 podiums. Pietro has already won Championship in the Easykart 60cc category and made pole position in 10 of the 14 qualifying sessions in which he participated.

Not by any coincidence, Pietro has the genes of a champion which he inherited from his grandfather, Emerson Fittipaldi, twice world champion of Formula 1, world champion of Indy Car, and two-time Indy 500 winner.

Emerson does not hide his pride when he speaks of his grandson, “I am very pleased and proud with Pietro’s performance. Pietro’s winning races and achieving his first championship at 11 years of age, especially because it is something that he really enjoys and dedicates himself with seriousness. In this respect, he reminds me of Ayrton Senna and so many other champions who began early racing go-karts already winning. Lewis Hamilton was also like that, and Pietro also reminds me very much of him. Independent of the fact that he’s my grandson, I always analyze racing drivers through their results, and Pietro already has impressive stats in his short career”.

In addition to Easykart 60cc, Pietro is also racing in the Mini Max 125cc category, in the South Florida Rotax Max Challenge. The Mini chassis are manufactured in Brazil and have a historic connection with the Fittipaldi family. The factory was founded by, and still belongs to Mario de Carvalho, who was Emerson Fittipaldi’s partner in 1966 when they began producing go-karts. Kart Mini’s representative in the US is Oswaldo Negri Jr., a GrandAm driver, who has been a great help in Pietro’s career.

Pietro’s team has also been an important factor in his success. The team is owned and headed by Massimiliano (“Max”) Papis, Indycar and NASCAR driver, and ex- Italian go-kart champion. Besides Max, Fabio Orsolon, who was a gokart champion in Brazil, is Pietro’s coach and mechanic, Hélio Rodriques Jr., is the team manager and responsible for the kart preparation, and Ricardo Legree, who has been with Pietro since the beginning of his career, is responsible
for tuning the engines.