Series interview with Edoardo Piscopo

Piscopo: "I learned a lot in Auto GP"

Edoardo Piscopo was undoubtedly among the protagonists of the first Auto GP season. Thanks to a slingshot season start he led the standings until the penultimate event, fighting Romain Grosjean until the last race in Monza. The final 2nd place overall is anyway a brilliant result, embellished by five podium finishes that identified him as one of the quickest and more consistent driver in the whole field.

Now that the emotions are settled, three weeks after the Monza event, Edoardo looks back at the season: "It was a great year, one of the best of my career. I was fighting again for the title, as I did in 2008 in the Italian F3, and in a really top-notch grid I was always among the quickest drivers. I want to say thanks to DAMS, they always gave me a competitive car. Obviously I would have been happier if I had won the championship, but I must recognize that Grosjean deserved it, he did an amazing job".

You are racing at International level since 2005, passing from F.Bmw to F.3 Euroseries, A1 GP, F2 and GP2 Asia. You even tested the Ferrari F1 car in 2008, so what an experienced driver like you can learn racing in Auto GP?

"Frankly Auto GP was very useful from a learning point of view. On the driving side, the car is not only very fast but it's also challenging to drive, especially when you push to find the limit. We realized that when Grosjean arrived in the Series: at that moment we thought that we were using all the performance of the car, but suddenly he raised the bar, showing that there was more to come. Also from a technical standpoint, working with a professional team like DAMS was amazing. We started preparing for the events at home, way before the race weekend, and they cared about every detail. Working in such an environment is very important for a driver, it can teach you a lot."

Drivers always say that team-mates are their toughest rivals. In your case that was even more true, considering that you fought with them for the top spots in the standings. How was the atmosphere in the team? "It was great, the best I found throughout my racing career. We were fighting hard on track but there were no problems between us, and especially with Duncan we became good friends. In the race weekends we used to make stupid jokes from Thursday to Sunday, and this helped us to shave off a bit of pressure".

What are your plans for 2011?

"It's early to say, but I'm very happy because thanks to my results in Auto GP I feel a lot of interest around me. I was coming from a wasted season in F2, with a car that didn't teach me anything and really unexplainable results for a driver that was used to fight for wins. Auto GP took me back to where I belong, that means battling for the championship. Now I have an open door in the USA to think about, some chances to drive as a Pro in the GTs and above all a lot of interest from the GP2 teams. Anyway to race in GP2 you need a big budget, so if we don't manage to do it, Auto GP will be the only open-wheel championship that I will take into account. I'd like to get another shot at the title, this year I was so close..."

-source: autogp