Round 3 - Chignolo Po (our rd2)

🏁 Le Colline – Chignolo Po

Second round of the 2025 Italian Drift Championship

Alright, this time we’re heading to Chignolo Po, at the Le Colline circuit.

I’ve never raced here before, except back in my motard days — when the layout was still different. There was quite a bit of drama surrounding that change too… let’s just say “Le Colline” has seen it all. But anyway.

To get ready, I recreated the track on Assetto Corsa.

It was a ton of work, but totally worth it: corner by corner, point by point, every curb was already in my head before even getting there in real life.

Throughout this whole journey, I had Sevva by my side — someone who basically grew up with me on Assetto Corsa, a leader/chaser worthy of respect, and the person who helped me the most to improve my twin execution.

That’s why he’ll get a special reward… but shhh, let’s not say anything yet. 😉

🔧 New faces in the pit box

In the meantime, the team has grown.

Two major new entries: Picchio, the tire guy who basically saves our lives at every round, and Bonf, a body shop pro by trade and an all-around fixer by heart.

When those two are around, the pit box transforms — from a “makeshift mechanic corner” into a proper mobile workshop, with rhythm, jokes, and hands always black with rubber and oil (lots of oil).

The team, in short, is really starting to take shape.

"Let’s all go to the drivers’ presentation!"

This photo captures all the effort we’ve put in this year. Truly moving.

🌧️ Saturday: rain, dry, rain… repeat

Saturday… and here’s where the fun part begins.

It rains.

Then it stops.

Then it starts again.

Then dry again — but not completely.

You barely had time to get used to one condition before the track changed again. Truly challenging. 💦

Focus mixed with fear before going on track, knowing the conditions will be different from before.

Every run on track was a new gamble — a balance between courage and throttle sensitivity. The rain hitting the windshield while the asphalt seems to say, “don’t worry, I’m drying up” — and then nope, it catches you right after the corner.

Despite everything, the qualifying runs were almost completely dry, and the goal was clear: finish between 14th and 18th place. Quite an ambitious target, considering there were about thirty drivers — and we had nearly 100 horsepower less than even the weakest of the others.

The result?

16th.

Perfect. Exactly as planned. And with the awareness that, with a bit more track time, there was still room to shave off a little more.

My passion for a cone. Brake, clutch, brake, clutch...

☀️ Sunday: finally dry.

Sunday — finally, truly dry.

The sun heating up the track again, the tires finally working as they should, and your heart racing as the engine fires up.

First-ever time drifting here, but the feeling is good right from the start.

The track flows nicely but is technical — you need precision and rhythm in the right spots.

And if you get carried away, it’s over — the second clipping point is right against the New Jersey barrier, and hitting it takes just a blink. 😬

Where you stay too cautious, you lose everything. And on the straight manji sections, with our low horsepower, I couldn’t even afford to lift the throttle during transitions — I had to do them by slightly slipping the clutch and keeping the engine bouncing off the limiter...

Poor oil-drinking BMW — but what a show hearing it scream all the way down the straight! 🔥

Custom drink and cap, happiness, sunshine... what more could you ask for?

During the practice sessions before the race, the team gave 110%:

Michi, now a flawless spotter, giving me precise calls and hyping me up at just the right moments; Picchio handling tire pressures and suggesting adjustments that led us toward real improvement; Bonf keeping an eye on the oil level like it’s his life’s mission; and Matte dreaming (along with me) of a twin-turbo V8 with a supercharger and NOS to throw in there… okay, fine — even a naturally aspirated V8 would do.

🏆 The races

Race 1: won 💥 A clean, tidy twin run as chaser, with just the right mix of aggression and control.

Race 2, on the other hand, meant facing Lupini — the weekend’s poleman. And yeah, let’s be honest: he’s got about three and a half times my horsepower. 😅

Even though he rightfully and deservedly took the win, my leader run was exactly what I’d been chasing since the start of the weekend: smooth, precise, and with every clipping point nailed.

Best run of the weekend.

And that, for me, is the real victory. 🥇

❤️ The surprise

Right before the race, I see Sevva, his wife, their little boy (Leonardo), and Nick showing up — with Leo “driving” a mini electric replica of my race car 😍

I couldn’t believe it.

The commentators couldn’t stop talking about the scene — little Leo in the team’s “official” mini BMW, looking serious like a real driver, smoke puffing from the exhausts — absolute perfection!!

And me? I was somewhere between laughing and tearing up.

But emotion won.

The two “sisters” side by side.

It truly meant a lot to me to finally show my friends what, until that moment, they had only heard me talk about:

An amazing team, the E36 always flat out, and me throwing it in like it doesn’t even belong to me. 😎🔥

💪 Conclusion

Weekend wrapped up with a smile — a huge step forward in confidence, and above all, a team that’s growing like a real family.

Le Colline put us to the test — with rain, crazy tarmac, and tough opponents — but we came out stronger and hungrier to keep pushing.

A little story:

Right before the last run, I walk up to my friends, to the team, look at them and say:

"Now 110%... there's a chance I'll send it into the stands!"

And from there, go.

A run like I’d never done before: confident, clean, full of trust.

The kind that reminds you, every now and then, why you really do it.

Next round: Varano de’ Melegari, on November 2nd.

We’re heading there fired up.

Really fired up.

🔥– DIDE57