Giovanni Moceri is considered to be one of the most successful retro-rally drivers in Italy. Two league titles, a victory at the Mille Miglia, six wins at the Targa Florio home race — and this is not a complete list of the Sicilian’s achievements. At the end of the next retro-season, we asked Giovanni about the Italian championships, Giuliano Cane’s “legacy” and the race he wants to win in the future.
-This season you didn’t have many starts: Trofeo Cave di Cusa, Mille Miglia, Gran Premio Nuvolari, Targa Florio. Which one was the most difficult for you?
-Unfortunately, professional and family commitments do not leave me a chance to participate in many events during the year and therefore I try to take part in major ACI Sport events and events in my region in Sicily.
Very different races, the most difficult was certainly the 1000 Miglia due to the mechanical problems that affected our 1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport of the Stellantis group and which did not allow us to fight to the end for the victory. .
-Whose performance has impressed you the most from your opponents this year?
-On the national level, many crews are in a position to perform at the top in regularity races, and it is precisely for this reason that the rankings are now always uncertain until the last timed trials: 1000 Miglia, GP Nuvolari and Targa Florio are proof of this. The performances and victories of Andrea Vesco and Mario Passanante are no longer news; on the other hand, the performance of the Turelli at the Nuvolari GP was superlative, maintaining a very high level performance for three days of competition.
-You are often named the heir to Giuliano Cane’. Are there young crews that you can distinguish among the Sicilians taking part in the retro-rally?
-I have always been proud of this «legacy» that has been attributed to me by the legendary Giuliano Can?, not so much for sporting merits but as for our a ? ective friendship; when I started to try my hand at these events I approached Lucia and Giuliano like mythological figures, they were my idols, the ones I read month after month in every trade magazine to win all the races. Over time I managed to be their teammate at the Loro Piana Classic, and then in my sporting «curriculum» I can count three episodes to which I am bound and I will always remain linked: the first one of my first Italian championship race the Raid del Gattopardo where a journalist newspaper entitled «Moceri does not stop Can?», well I had lost the race for only 2 cents from my idol and for me it was a great victory and not a defeat; then the second of having been Giuliano’s co-driver in a Lumezzane Trophy and finally of having participated in an edition of the 1000 Miglia with Lucia. In Sicily after a long period of stagnation, luckily now many young people are approaching this specialty, and this will allow us to pass on this very regular culture that is deeply rooted in my territory of origin.
-If you look at the standings of the Campionato Italiano Regolarit? Auto Storiche, it is hard not to notice that this year the crews that do not take part in the «top» rallies have come to the foreground. What is the reason for this, in your opinion?
-As I said, there are many crews that have considerably improved the regularity performances, and then the vast and heterogeneous o er of ACI Sport calendar events favors this dispersion. In addition, participating in a championship requires considerable economic resources and also in terms of time to devote, and therefore during the season only those who collect positive results continue to complete the championship. I would be for the establishment of regional circuit championships and then the best of each region clash in a very final race at the end of the season.
-You have been the Italian Regularity Rally champion twice — in 2017 and 2019. What has changed in the Championships if we compare the two past seasons?
-The major events championship was an intuition of ACI Sport which believed in developing a more detailed regulation of the discipline, putting together the most important Italian historical re-enactments, 1000 Miglia apart. An ever-growing championship that now generally sees the need to establish a uniform timing and race management system for the entire Italian series.
-Comparing the victories at the Targa Florio, which of the six is the most valuable to you?
-The last one is always the most beautiful also because it is the one that gives you the motivation to prepare for the next victory. Then meet at the Targa of 2022.
-In 2019, after winning the Mille Miglia, you said that for a complete collection of victories at the most prestigious rallies in Italy, all you needed was the «Red Arrow» title. Which rally would you like to win now, both in Italy or an international one?
-Winning the 1000 Miglia is the dream of every regulator, the goal is to continue winning others and, why not, try to match the 10 victories of my teacher Giuliano Can?.
Cover: Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti