This is the post I would have wanted never to write. Mauro Forghieri has died. I would like to write what he meant for me but not now, maybe at another time. Below you can find the translation of an article from Gazzetta di Modena (google translated with some adjustments).
https://www.gazzetta...nni-1.100131983
MODENA Farewell to Mauro Forghieri, he was 87, he was the design engineer for years close collaborator of Enzo Ferrari. It was he who brought the world title back to Maranello in 1975, 11 years after that of Surtees. He also distinguished himself in the construction of winning prototypes for the then well-known Marche and Sport championships. Two years after joining the company after graduating from the University of Bologna, at the age of 27 he was placed by Drake at the head of the "Reparto Corse" of Maranello contributing, with his expertise and his charisma, to the many successes of the Red Team.
In fact, starting from 1962, Forghieri held the position of head of the technical department for racing cars, dedicating himself mainly to Formula 1 and prototype sports cars and introducing innovations that have marked the history of engines, such as, for example, the installation of wings on vehicles. Under his leadership, Ferrari has won a total of 54 world grand prix, four drivers world titles and seven constructors world titles. At the end of the Eighties Forghieri then left Ferrari to land first at Lamboghini and then at Bugatti.
"I have always worked, for me it is a habit - he said about himself - and then I feel pleasure especially when they come here to ask us for something avant-garde". In an interview for his 70th birthday he told this «I came into contact with Enzo Ferrari who offered me a pleasant occupation, I accepted and I stayed permanently in Modena. When you took over the racing department it was not the Ferrari of today. We won in other categories but not in F1. Why? Until Fiat arrived (1969, ed), Ferrari did not have the financial resources necessary to compete at a high level even in F1. Today everything is centered on the highest category but back then there were different needs: we competed in many championships to earn and thus support the factory. We even had a four-wheel drive project in the drawer. Ferrari did not believe certain things could be achieved but the impediment was determined precisely by the excessive economic effort it would have involved».
Which technical solution or innovation, among many, do you feel most attached to? «In a frenetic and competitive world like that of F1 it is difficult to innovate. It is more correct to speak of application to the world of racing. Having made this clarification, I gladly remember the semi-automatic gearbox (tested by Villeneuve already at the end of 79, ed) or the water-gasoline emulsifier (later banned, ed) that derived from some warplanes and that took us out of a sea of troubles. ".
Who is the driver you would have wanted on one of your cars and never arrived? «Simple: Senna. I was able to convince him to come to Maranello. Before my resignation from Ferrari I approached him, he was not satisfied with the technical situation of his team. I enticed him, we talked often. He was very nice and in the end he told me that he agreed to come with us. It was done. Unfortunately someone, inside the team, learned of his availability, thought instead of having the drivers of the time sign the new contract immediately. Finally, the farewell to the Scuderia of dreams and the new stories to Lamborghini Engineering and then to Bugatti. He never thought it would end like this. I did not agree with the way the team was organized. They couldn't have 30 people in command: it's a system that doesn't work. Ferrari was at the sunset, impossible to argue with him. I left and went to Chrysler. When I saw, years later, that Montezemolo, the new Ferrari president, was relying on a single organizer and a technical chief, I understood that he was on a good path. Then came an investment that was difficult to repeat: Michael Schumacher ».
Edited by Forghieri, 02 November 2022 - 18:27.
