In deciding to leave Tony Kart after spending 15 years with them, Davide Forè knew he would be taking on a big and exciting new challenge when he joined the Maranello works team. But the 32-year-old, five times world champion has not lost his touch and is still up for the fight to be amongst the leaders.

After taking part in a few warm up races with his new team, Davide Forè was fired up when he entered the paddock for this European championship race. "A lot has been happening since last year", said the Italian driver on arrival at the Ugento circuit down at the very tip of Italy. "On top of getting to know everyone here at Maranello and adapting to the team's way of doing things, there is the new 125cc engine to contend with, the technology is so different to what we've been used to. I'm hoping my experience will help the team move forward. I'm sure we're going to have some great times together !"

Davide kicked off the season with two excellent results, coming home 4th in the Winter Cup at Lonato and 5th in the Andrea Margutti Trophy race in Parma. He also took part in a round of WSK racing in a 125cc gearbox KZ2 and had three top 10 finishes during the first two rounds of the International Open Masters. "In the Ugento meeting at the end of April we were able to demonstrate that the Iame/Parilla-powered Maranello is competitive. Unfortunately the ignition gave out five laps from home when I was sitting in the lead in Race 1. In Race 2, I was pleased to get up to 5th place from back down in 24th but was disappointed to miss out on a win. Still, it bodes well for the European Championships".

So in the end Davide had mixed feelings about his first European outing last 5-6 May. "The week-end started well enough but it ended badly! I was 5th fastest in the time trials and came 2nd and 4th in the heats, which got me on the outside of the 2nd line on the starting grid for the first final race. I had quite a scrap with Convers and Christensen in that race before coming home 4th, just ahead of my team-mate Mathias Laine. The team and I decided to change a few parameters on the kart for Race 2 and I really thought I had a good chance of getting on the podium if not of winning. But Gary Catt shunted me up the rear right at the start and I had to stop soon after that when the chain broke. So I've already used up one joker; I hope to get my own back in Varennes for the French Grand Prix that's coming up in June".

Baby daughter is doing fine...
Davide Forè and wife Lerina are the proud parents of new arrival Silvia. A professional driver's schedule takes him away from home for several days at a time but of course Davide keeps in close touch by phone. "We call each other two or three times a day", confided Davide. "She's always there to encourage me and wants to know how the weekend is going. And the first thing I do each morning is find out how the baby is doing. But during the day I avoid using my mobile as much as I can because I need to concentrate 100% on the race".

Big brother cares
No sooner had he joined Maranello than Davide Forè realized he was not going to be restricted to the driver's role. "Armando Filini, my team manager, told me he was counting on me to help the whole team progress. For me it is an honor to share my experience with them and to play an active role in technical development. So I was more than disappointed when I had to drop out of Race 2 on the Sunday evening, but was chuffed to see young Finnish driver Mathias Laine take third spot on the podium. It goes to show we're moving in the right direction".