He remembers with passion the first meeting with Enzo Ferrari that began with a clash. Today, former Formula One French driver René Arnoux faces a new challenge with the other major car manufacturer he competed with. At the Rallylegend in San Marino he got behind the wheel of the 5 Renault 1985 Turbo Maxi DIAC. "Driving a rally car is always exciting especially for me who started with turbo – he tells ANSA -. Yesterday I discovered the car for the first time and I really liked it as drivability, it's easy as a set-up". His passion, however, remains the circuit, "because there you decide where to brake, you try to delay", while in the rally "the road always changes". What was the funniest moment of your career? "The great moment was the first meeting with Enzo Ferrari. His cars made me dream all my life, when I was with my father we listened to the races on the radio, because we didn't have TV". In '82 she met him for the first time. "I had an argument with him. He didn't want anyone, neither lawyers nor managers. He wanted to be me alone, to listen to him. But it immediately put me at ease, it was a moment of emotion and passion". Is there anything you have never said to Enzo Ferrari that you would like to tell him if you were here? "I would say to him: bravo, congratulations on everything you have done. Ferrari existed with him and continues to exist now, it has a good future, even if they were not all successes." What does Ferrari need today to win? "There are three or four people missing at the top. The machine is made very well on the construction plan. But we need another ability to do the project". And he specifies: "Aerodynamics are fundamental and Ferrari is a bit weak in that." What is the biggest regret of your career? "In '83 I was playing the World Championship with Ferrari. I lost Detroit to a tin welding of the ECU electronics. I was leading with a 40-second lead. At eight laps the car finally stopped. There I understood: I had lost the World Cup. It was hard to digest, but it's not like I can hammer my hands." After practice, Arnoux will take to the track with the Renault 5 Turbo Maxi DIAC today at the Misano circuit and tomorrow and Sunday in San Marino during the Rallylegend.
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