Pierluigi Brigada's "Grand Slam"
In Casale Monferrato, in the European R2000 Championship, the two-time World Champion Roberto Savioli, who is presenting himself with a brand new catamaran from the Clerici shipyard equipped for the first time with a safety capsule (a Mercury-powered racing car very similar to the one used in Formula Grand Prix), is the author, during the qualifying tests, of a terrifying accident.At the exit of a turn his hull, due to the detachment of a boot, becomes undriveable and ends up at full speed with the side against the concrete stands adjacent to the bank. With difficulty, the rescuers extract, after almost half an hour of attempts, the unfortunate pilot who nevertheless owes his life not only to his safety belts but also to the shallow waters of the Po River which prevent the sinking of the central structure of the vessel, that is to say the one containing the safety capsule and the pilot. Savioli, who did not suffer any fractures, found himself in a coma for a few days and once he had recovered from the dramatic experience he would never return to compete.Savioli's accident removed one of the most accredited contenders for the final success from the race and so the winner was Pier Luigi Brigada, with another Clerici catamaran also powered by Mercury, which had previously belonged to the same driver-builder.Brigada dominated the competition, leaving his opponents behind, including the ever-noteworthy Giuseppe Casanova who, with his 175 HP Lucini-Alfa Romeo GTV racer, took second place overall.Behind the driver from Parma was the Swede Roland Paulsson who, having arrived in Casale with a Navis catamaran powered by a Renault Turbo 1400 cc credited with 250 HP, was unable to express his full potential in the race.Following in fourth and fifth place is the Englishman Leonard Moore, aboard a three-point forward-drive from the Noone shipyard powered by an Alfa Romeo, and the Frenchman Jacques Painvain with the R.Molinari-Renault Turbo catamaran.The other Italians are unlucky: Bernasconi is plagued by various mechanical problems with his Clerici-Alfa Romeo catamaran, and Cerutti finds himself out after only half a lap during the trials due to the fragility of his experimental complex (Clerici catamaran, Fiat 1300 Turbocompressor engine). To conclude, it is fair to point out that finding drivers representing four nations in the standings in an international Entrobordo Corsa championship is a not insignificant event.

A little less than a month later, on the sea waters of Vastervik, a town located about 50 km south of Stockholm, the World Championship of the R2000 class is taking place inside a beautiful fjord where a triangular circuit is set up. For years the races that assign the international titles for these categories have been organized in Italy; there is only one precedent, always on Swedish soil, when in 1972 the first edition of the R3 Continental Championship was held.

The Swedish pilots, being about twenty, in order to be admitted to the race must complete some qualifying heats that also promote the usual Paulsson, Norman and Gahmberg to the start. These find on their way the pilots of our aggressive expedition that is formed by the new European Champion Brigada, Casanova, Capelli. Leidi and Virgilio Molinari.
The Italians' boats, in particular Brigada's catamaran and Casanova's, Molinari's and Capelli's racers, are clearly superior to the Swedes' catamarans (some of which are quite old).
Two victories by Brigada in the first two heats, with Virgilio Molinari always in second place, and two by Casanova in the remaining heats, with Brigada second in the third heat, allow the latter to add the world title to the still "fresh" European title.
In the final ranking, after the winner, we find Virgilio Molinari, Casanova, Capelli and the Swede Norman. It is a total success for the Italian team, which reconfirms the validity of our school in the inboard field.

This season Pier Luigi Brigada also managed to win, for the second year, the Italian R2000N Championship, thus achieving the "grand slam". For this series of races he had a new catamaran, again built by Clerici, but equipped with an Alfa Romeo engine prepared by the expert Pavia native Santino Fiorani.
Although most of the participants in the R2000N championship had catamarans, in the final ranking there were two racers occupying the second and third steps of the podium, driven respectively by Casanova and Virgilio Molinari. The catamaran era has undoubtedly begun for quite some time now, but the much maligned racer is still proving to be competitive.

Moving on to the road races, we must highlight the umpteenth victory of Antonio Petrobelli in the 48th edition of the Raid Pavia-Venezia. With this success, the fifth consecutive, the champion from Padua accomplishes a historic feat that has no equal. Presenting himself aboard a new Celli-BPM three-pointer, he took a time of 2h 01' 15" (185.072 Km/h average) and also won, for the seventh time, the Coppa d'Oro Theo Rossi di Montelera (Revere-Pontelagoscuro section at 181.978 Km/h average). In the overall ranking, in second place, we find Remo Ranieri racing with a new outboard three-pointer from the Lucini and Frigerio shipyard registered in the newly created F3000 class.
This is a project that recalls the famous outboard three-pointer that won the Raid with Carlo Rasini in the "far away" 1969.
Also not to be underestimated are the good performances provided by two very important racers such as Giuseppe Casanova and Remigio Telasio, both at the helm of Lucini-Alfa Romeo boats in the R2000N class who ranked third and fourth respectively.
As always, there were also some retirements illustrious: Annibale Beltrami. Mauro Danini, Giuseppe Landini, Fabio Buzzi and the former Off-Shore champion Carlo Bonomi, the latter taking to the water with powerful FB boats powered by the new diesel engines from the newly formed Seatek company.

Beyond the sporting results, it is however necessary to point out that there is a sad air in this Raid, as only a few days before the start, during a private test on the Po in Boretto, Franco Bonazzi, a much loved and experienced pilot from Luzzara, dies in an accident.
I fondly remember his best performances in his career, such as third place overall in the 1986 Raid, success in the 100 km cross-country race in San Nazzaro d'Ongina (PC) in the same year and also the various seasons raced in the Fuoribordo Sport and Entrobordo Corsa classes (in particular with the R3N 2000 cc).

After the Raid, another great performance comes from the Giro del Lario with the return to victory of Eugenio Molinari. The champion from Como, riding the powerful and well-tested three-pointer of his own construction powered by a BPM engine of the R°° class, also sets the new average record of the race with 188.412 Km/h.