Sooner or later all the great and beautiful stories end, as he himself said this morning: Gabriele Tarquini at the end of 2021 will hang up his helmet.
Not forever, because a 59-year-old boy can’t do it to identify himself in retirement life, being today still an official driver who competes in a full-time World Championship.
But in the pre-event press conference of the FIA WTCR in Adria, the “Cinghar” wanted to announce his farewell in person, in what is his home race of the top touring series, in which he participates with the Hyundai Elantra N of the BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Squadra Corse.
“I feel very sad – admits the Abruzzese – After a long career that seemed never to end, you think this moment will never come. In life, everything has a beginning and an end and I’m old enough to understand it”.
“WTCR has become a strong series in recent years, however I struggled a bit in qualifying. Even though my race pace is there, I decided in the break between Spain and Hungary that it was time to say ‘enough’. It was time. important for me to announce the decision in my home race in Italy, this is the right time “.
Gabriele Tarquini, BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR
Photo by: WTCR
In his very long career, which began more than 30 years ago on karts on the family track, Tarquini has reached unthinkable heights, including participating in the F1 World Championship, becoming World Touring Champion twice and putting many titles and trophies on the showcase.
“I don’t want to thank all the people who have helped me in my career, because I would surely forget someone! The list is very long, starting with my family and ending with Hyundai Motorsport. I want this to be my last manufacturer because we have done a great work together “.
“We started from a blank sheet and created the Hyundai i30 N TCR, I won the first race and the title. Our relationship is very strong. I don’t want to stop driving completely, because racing is like a drug for me, so I will have to I slowly get used to it because I can’t go from running full time to doing nothing “.
“I am also talking to Hyundai Motorsport to see if we can have a different relationship in the future. We have achieved many important milestones together, such as the WTCR drivers title in 2018”.
Born in Giulianova in 1962, Tarquini started with karts in 1974 and then successfully landed in Formula 3 and Formula 3000. In F1 he qualified for 38 GPs, scoring points at the 1989 Mexican Grand Prix.
After the era of single-seaters, the era of covered wheels begins, especially with touring races. In 1994 he was Champion in the BTCC, in 2003 in the European Championship and in between he won races and trophies between Germany, Italy and Spain. He also participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the WTCC he spent 12 seasons hitting the title in 2009, and then replicated when the championship was reborn as the FIA WTCR in 2018, with BRC’s Hyundai.
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