(ANSA) - ROME, AUGUST 28 - The parabolic curve of the Monza circuit will be named after Michele Alboreto, F1 vice champion of the world, 20 years after his death. The official ceremony will take place on Saturday 11 September, the day of the F1 GP qualifying, in the presence of Alboreto's wife, Nadia, and family members; the president of the ACI, Angelo Sticchi Damiani; the president and CEO of F1, Stefano Domenicali; and of the president of 'Autodromo Nazionale Monza' Giuseppe Redaelli. The decision was taken by the president of the Automobile club of Italy himself, after having obtained a unanimous favorable opinion from the sports council. Alboreto lost his life in 2001, during some acceptance tests in the Lausitzring. The curve that precedes the arrival straight of theAutodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the most iconic in motorsport and has helped make the circuit one of the fastest in the world.
The parabolic curve was built in 1955, taking the place of two hairpin bends paved with porphyry cubes and joined by a short straight. It took its name from the design and trajectory it described: a rising arc line, similar to a parabolic arc.
After passing the narrowest entrance that follows the straight opposite to the starting one, the drivers can travel the final part of the curve at full acceleration, sliding towards the outside and taking the straight to the finish line at full speed.
Michele Alboreto can be defined as one of the greatest Italian pilots of recent decades. Born on 23 December 1956, he began his sporting career in 1976, right in the Formula Monza Championship. In the 1980s he made his debut in F1 and - after an experience in Tyrrell - moved to Ferrari, with which he became world vice-champion in 1985. In his career he won five F1 GPs, but also competed in other championships including DTM, Formula Indy and World Endurance , of which he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997. He died on April 25, 2001, at the age of 44, following an accident at the Lausitz racetrack, during some preparation tests for the endurance classic.
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