Simona Savastano, speed in the blood and a dream in the drawer

Alessandro Vigano'

Speed in the blood and a dream in the drawer

Passionate, gritty and precise. Simona Savastano has speed in her blood and is a navigator of the highest level. Sportal.it spoke with her at an event related to rallying, one of the passions of a boy torn from life too soon by a fierce disease, villasantese Gabriele Brandazzi.

Navigator, navigator, co-driver–what do you prefer to be called?
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Any way is fine with me, navigator or navigator makes no difference. What really matters is being in the car: that’s where I feel I belong. The cockpit is my passion.

But how difficult is it to be in there, with that role, in the middle of the action?
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It’s not easy, that’s for sure. It all comes from passion, though. When you really love what you do, you can keep your focus even in the most difficult moments. Ours is a key role, no less important than that of the pilot. I raced for 20 years with the same pilot. To give you an idea: even after so many seasons, every time we would redo a test like Monza, he would still ask me to reread the note for the chicane entry, even though we knew it by heart.
It is a job that requires continuous attention. In certain races, like in Spain during the world championship, you cannot afford even a moment of distraction. It is tiring, but beautiful.

Why did you choose to be a co-pilot instead of a driver?
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As we say among ourselves, sometimes it is also a matter of time and possibility. The dream since childhood was to hold the steering wheel in my hands. And in fact as a girl I had a little indulgence: I bought myself a go-kart and had a lot of fun. But racing real cars is another world. I know people who even sold their couch to race on Sundays! I was lucky enough to get into nice cars, even the Plus. And yes, I was on the side, but there was no shortage of excitement and fun. If you could open that famous dream drawer … you would find a steering wheel there.

And that old phrase “Woman behind the wheel, constant danger”? Does it bother you?
No, it just makes me laugh. Also because, honestly, I’ve seen so much crap done by men. So come on, I’d say we’re even! It’s just one of those meaningless prejudices.

How did this passion of yours come about, if no one in your family was into engines?
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It is something that came to me spontaneously, from a very young age. I used to ask my mom for toy cars. In my house nobody followed engines, there was really no car culture. In those days there was only ‘Autosprint‘ and I used to buy it to look at pictures of rallies. Then I got a chance to start … and from there my whole adventure began.

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