The fifth edition of the review (11-14 May) in the Emilian city offers a retrospective on the great engineer whose ideas were also applied to vehicles of the Ministry of Defense
– Modena
The Motor Valley Fest, festival of the Land of Motors of Emilia Romagna, returns for its fifth edition from 11 to 14 May 2023 in Modena. Emilia Romagna is the Italian region that is the emblem of motorsport which makes the hearts of enthusiasts beat faster and the economy go round with 16,000 companies and 100,000 employees between direct and related industries. Here is the homeland of engines: 150 km between Parma, Modena, Bologna, Rimini, Misano with 4 international circuits, 7 manufacturers, 11 luxury car museums, 19 special collections. The Motor Valley 2023 provides for an intense calendar of conferences and round tables, car and motorcycle exhibitions of Emilia-Romagna brands, thematic meetings, parades, dynamic appointments and tastings, once again presenting itself among the most awaited spring events, beyond the borders of the land of “E mutor”. The flagship of this edition of the Motor Valley Fest is an unpublished exhibition at the Palazzo Ducale in Modena: “L’altra storia dell’Ing. Mauro Forghieri”, also with cars, motorcycles and engines that have given a turning point to the Motorsport sector, and beyond, with memorabilia and objects that belonged to the great Emilian designer who died at the age of 87 on November 2, 2022.
forghieri’s victories
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Mauro Forghieri was the main collaborator of Enzo Ferrari, technical director of the Scuderia di Maranello from 1962 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1984, the absolute protagonist of the triumphs of the Rossa. Under his technical and sporting management, Ferrari won 54 world GPs, 11 world titles in Formula 1 (seven World Constructors’ Championships in 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983 and four World Drivers’ Championships in 1964 with John Surtees, in 1975 and 1977 with Niki Lauda, in 1979 with Jody Scheckter), as well as five World Sport Prototypes. A life, that of Mauro Forghieri, dedicated to Motorsport. “Races – said Forghieri – are not only an unsurpassed technical testing ground and an extraordinary showcase for the corporate image but above all they are a school of professional and human life: when there is no competition, you can relax”. And Forghieri never sat down and was never satisfied, giving it his all from the first day in Maranello, aware that he had the full support of Enzo Ferrari who encouraged him: “Do what you know how to do. Do your best. And don’t be afraid: remember that I’m here”. And the young engineer has always given everything for the Cavallino, often working miracles, artfully exalting his technical and competitive management. However, he never kept silent when he wasn’t convinced of what the Commendatore wanted to impose on him. “I remained close to him – Forghieri repeated – as those who were able to say no remained close to him. At Ferrari it is impossible to tell stories. I made him scream, I never coaxed him. I never called him an engineer because he wasn’t. I’ve always called him Commendatore. His esteem for me was everything, in those years of hard work, of great satisfactions, of triumphs that are in the golden register of world sport and go beyond the boundaries of sport”.
the link with ferrari
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Without Ferrari, racing would have (and still would) have taken another turn and perhaps F1 would not have existed and would no longer exist. And without “that” Forghieri the Prancing Horse on the reds would not have been the very symbol of motoring yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is also a Mauro Forghieri, as well as the Prancing Horse House. In 1987, after 28 full-time years, Forghieri left Ferrari to move to Lamborghini: “A few words: I to the commendatore – Forghieri recalled – “I’m leaving” and a few Ferrari words to me: “Go ahead, I’m leaving soon Me too”. And so it will be. An epic was closing. Drake will die on August 14, 1988. Forghieri had given everything to Ferrari, inventing and building new engines, new cars, a new organization of the racing team that still lasts today: each driver with his team of technicians, his sector manager, the his team leader and so on. This is not the place to retrace the life and technical and sporting career of Mauro Forghieri. Let those who have lived with Forghieri in Maranello and in the pits of circuits around the world speak: “At Ferrari, Mauro’s gaze was enough to restore calm, to put everyone back in line, to give the team new impetus. His eyes spoke for him – recalls today with emotion his former collaborator and friend Franco Antoniazzi, now managing director of the Modenese Oral Engineering – and he didn’t need words. To set up the project for a new engine or a new car, all he needed was a pencil and a drafting machine. A unique designer, the greatest of all, a genius, a great character, an older brother. It was he who hired me in ’78 at Ferrari. Then, from 1989 together first with Lamborghini Engineering and then, from 1995, we founded Oral Engineering. The last project to which Mauro gave his fundamental contribution was the creation of a new hybrid vehicle for the special military forces in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence. This vehicle will be called “MF-4 WD” in the name of Mauro Forghieri. I am happy that I spent these emotions with him. The greatest designer in the history of F1, he made Ferrari great but also Lamborghini, Oral Engineering ”.
the other jobs
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Already. There is a “giant” Mauro Forghieri beyond Ferrari. Having concluded his experience in Ferrari in 1987, Forghieri accepted the challenge of Lee Iacocca, at the time CEO of Chrysler and mastermind of the acquisition of Lamborghini Automobili, to found Lamborghini Engineering. Under his technical direction, an innovative 3500 cc 12-cylinder Formula 1 engine and a 6-speed transversal gearbox were designed and developed in less than two years. In 1989 the engine and gearbox group made their debut in the F1 World Championship with the Larrousse Team and the pilot Philippe Alliot. The development of the engine continued successfully and in the following years it was used by the Lotus, Ligier and Minardi teams. In 1993, Mc Laren set up a laboratory car equipped with the 12-cylinder Lamborghini for the driver Ayrton Senna. When the contract was ready for signature, McLaren boss Ron Dennis decided to accept Peugeot’s economically very advantageous offer by opting to use that engine. Senna, very disappointed, left McLaren at the end of 1993 to move to Williams the following year, with whom he would die at Imola on 1 May 1994. At the end of 1991, Forghieri left Lamborghini Engineering to move to technical management of Bugatti. On 1 January 1995, Mauro Forghieri and Franco Antoniazzi with the entrepreneur Sergio Lugli founded Oral Engineering in Baggiovara di Modena, which over the years has developed and grown to become a technical partner of the most important world manufacturers in the Automotive sector . Under the technical direction of Forghieri and in collaboration with BMW, the 10-cylinder F1 engine used by Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher in the 2000 World Championship was designed, the prototype of the GP800 cc motorcycle, 2 and 4-cylinder diesel engines for the military and civil and many other projects that enthusiasts will be able to discover on the occasion of the exhibition organized at the Military Academy. The exhibition, set up in the Giulio Cesare courtyard of the Military Academy / Palazzo Ducale in Modena, aims to make this journey beyond Formula 1 known, demonstrating the barrier-free ingenuity, innovative capacity and passion of Mauro Forghieri. A lesser-known but equally exciting story of great technical and entrepreneurial value that involved him in the last 35 years of his life and made him active until the last day.
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