KERRICK SPORTS SEDAN'S HERO
You'd be hard pressed to find a Kerrick Sports Sedan fan who hasn't been on the edge of their seat watching Tony Ricciardello carving it up on the track. Fierce rivalries with the likes of Darren Hossack and Kerry Bailey has made for some truly riveting watching over the years and he’s more than proven himself, taking out the title of the Sports Sedan Series seven times.
Kerrick Industrial Equipment, proud sponsors of the Sports Sedan Series, recently had the opportunity to quiz Ricciardello about the upcoming season, his heroes, his rivals and his goals, the intriguing results of which can be seen below:
1) I hear you set the fastest qualifying lap ever at Mallala - Congratulations. How are you feeling about going into this upcoming season are you happy with the car and how it’s performing? Thanks. We’ve had a couple of rough starts in recent years with a fire a few years ago and couple of other mishaps so it was really great to pick up where we left off last year and start the season so strongly.
2) Going into it this year are there any competitors that you feel you’ll need to keep a close eye on? The head to head battles with Darren Hossack we've had over the years mean that he’ll always be one to watch for us. Kerry Bailey will be another one to keep an eye on when he gets back into it. At the end of the day it’s not always the fastest car on the track that wins, you need to keep up with the points system.
3) Out of the five tracks this season (Mallala, Winton, Queensland, Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park) which is your favourite track to race on and why? The Mallala and Winton tracks are great – the way the corners are designed really work well for the Alfa. Queensland has given us some good rounds pace-wise in the past but when it comes down to it Phillip Island is where we really want to exceed. Darren Hossack seems to do really well on the Phillip Island track and it’d be great to knock him off his podium there.
4) What has been your most memorable race? It’s really hard to say as every race is different and you’re always giving it 100%. The one that springs to mind would be the final race we had at Oran Park before they demolished it to build a housing complex. We have raced there since 1998, it has a lot of history for us.
5) If you could have any car in the world, what would it be? A Ferrari no doubt. A Ferrari will go well with my Italian heritage and owning one is definitely something I am striving to achieve in the future!
6) How did you get into racing? My Dad raced since the 70’s, so it is pretty much in my blood. I started BMX racing when I was 7 years old to when I was 15. I then progressed to Go karting and then Formula Fords after that it kept progressing.
7) Who is your biggest icon/inspiration? My Dad of course is my biggest mentor as both a driver and a mechanic. Alain Prost is someone I really respect he races well and makes really strong, calculated moves on the track. Fangio is another great driver that comes to mind.
8) What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into racing? You need passion, a lot of sponsorship and you have to dedicate a lot of your time and effort. Whatever you’re passionate about in life (whether it’s racing or not) you have to give it 100%, there are going to be good days and bad days and you just have to fight on through.
9) What’s the fastest you've ever been clocked at? It depends on the track but I’d say the fastest I’ve been clocked would be around 320 km/hour. We race the fastest cars in the series, so naturally we’d get the fastest times on all the tracks.
* Image Source: Kerrick Sports Sedans/Nathan Wong