|
|
There are four Austrians working for
Scuderia Ferrari, for whom this will obviously be a special weekend. The best known face
is that of Bernd Fisa, who joined the motor sport press office at the start of last year.
Bernd is 30 years old from Vienna, Fisa speaks Italian, French and English as well as his
mother tongue and used to work as a journalist at the Gazzetta dello Sport and the Kurier,
Austria's most important daily paper. He is mad about football and Rapid Vienna is his
obsession. Also at the track is Anna Meilinger, twenty four, who works in motorhome
hospitality, where her smiling face and her kindness are her trademark.
The other two work out of the limelight, locked away in the Maranello wind tunnel. They
are Stephan Nothdurtfer and Peter Schmollgruber, two aerodynamic engineers working under
the Greek head of staff Nick Tombazis.
Stephan was born in Innsbruck and the 34 year old has worked for Ferrari for four years.
"The Maranello company puts you through all the emotions, from depression to
euphoria," laughs Stephan. "I will never forget my first day at Ferrari. It was
the Monday after the 1997 race in Jerez, when Michael had battled it out with Jacques
Villeneuve. The atmosphere at Maranello was really down." Since then, a lot of water
has passed under the bridge. "The entire team has continuously moved forward. We
started to win more and more races and then came the 1999 Constructors' title and then we
did the double last year. It's fantastic to be part of this team."
Stephan's first contact with Italy came in 1993, when he fell in love with an Italian girl
and moved to Firenze. At that time, he joined Tampolli Engineering and his motor sport
career began. Then from 1995, he worked with Dallara. The call from Maranello came in
1997. "It was ten o'clock at night and I was having dinner with a friend in a Parma
restaurant," recalls Stephan. "At first, I thought it was a joke! I had always
wanted to work in Formula 1. My father, Johann, was a mechanic in Innsbruck and when I was
little I helped him whenever I could which I loved. Then on Sunday I would sit in front of
the television to cheer on Gerhard Berger and Karl Wendlinger."
Peter and Stephan love the racing but don't get much chance to see it for themselves.
"We are like moles, always in the wind tunnel, stuck in front of a computer,"
they claim. "The first time I attended a grand prix was Budapest in 1987," says
Stephan. "Since I have worked for Ferrari I have only been to the grands prix in
Italy. Watching it on television doesn't matter. What does is that Ferrari wins!" |
|
|
| [an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
|
|
