[Books] il barone rampante ???

[marcus]

not sure if that is spelt right ..but a few years back there was a F3000 team called il barone rampante..I may be wrong but i believe this was Guido forti's team (that may be wrong)..they ran 3 cars one for Zanardi and 2 others whom i forget right now..BUT..I heard that the team was named after a book....I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this book..what its about?? who wrote it ?? and why the heck was an F3000 team named after it ..and what ever happened to that team ??

anyone know any info on this ??

[Gerard]

Marcus, there's not much I can tell you about the F3000 'Il Barone Rampante' team.
I don't know why the team was named after the book and I also don't know what happened to them.

'Il Barone Rampante' is a book by Italian fiction writer Italo Calvino. It was translated in English with the title 'The Baron in the trees.'
It's a strange book, set in the 18th century, it tells the story of Cosimo, a young Italian nobleman who rebels against parental authority by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life.
He adapts efficiently to an arboreal existence, hunts, sows crops, plays games with earth-bound friends, fights forest fires, solves engineering problems, and even manages to have love affairs.
He also has time to read and think. His proposal for 'an Ideal State in the Trees' is acknowledged by Diderot, and Napoleon pays him homage.
From his perch in the trees, Cosimo sees the age of Voltaire pass by and a new century dawn. His ending is as graceful and unusual as his life has been.

Some of the facts I know:
In 1991, Alessandro Zanardi and Giuseppe Bugatti raced for 'Il Barone Rampante' in a Reynard-Mugen Zytek.
In 1992 there were three drivers, Rubens Barrichello, Andrea Montermini and Giampiero Simoni. They all drove Reynard-Judd Zytek.
And in 1993, Jan Lammers was their driver.
That's all I know about the team, sorry I can't be of any more help. Maybe soneone else?

[marcus]

thats great thanks Gerard..thats about what I wanted to know..I was interested in the book and it does sound very interesting..I may try to hunt it down.

still beats me why the team was named after it though.

CHEERS
Marcus

[Marshal]

I vaguely recall that the chap who ran IBR (can't be bothered to write the whole name) liked the idea of looking down on the rest of the field from his vantage point above them, as IBR does in the book.

I don't think that it was the same people who ran Forti though.

Does anyone else find it strange when these new teams pop up from nowhere, run big teams in international racing, quite often with no visible signs of support, then just fade away again. I seem to recall an outfit called Shannon Racing, having an F3000 team and about 3 F3 teams across europe for half a season, then just fading away. Where do they come from and where do they go to?

[fatbloke]

No, Forti were (IIRC) their rivals in F3000.

There are many theories as to where these teams get their money from - maybe someone should have asked more questions of Vic Lee Motorsport back in the early nineties...

[bobdrummond]

IBR was founded by the son of the man who owns the famous Harrys Bar in Venice (Campari, Cipollini??). It was promptly re-named Il Budget Rampante by their competitors for their "money no object" approach which raised the bar in F3000 terms. I think the reason they disappeared was because Daddy said enough was enough and cut off the funding. Still, any team which helped Alex Zanardi deserves a place in history.

As for 'here today, gone tomorrow' teams, what happened to Andy Evans' Scandia group and Fayed Jr's McLaren F1 GTR team of '96.

I too, would like to know more about the Shannon fiasco.