Ten Minutes with.....Paulo Carcasci

Ten Minutes with 1985 works Van Diemen star, Paulo Carcasci of Brazil.

HoFF1600 - You raced in Karts before FF1600, how long was your Kart career?

 

PC - I raced go karts from 1977 to 1984.

 

You came over to the UK in 1985, did you know that you would be racing against Hill, Blundell, Herbert, Gachot etc?

 

I had no idea about any of the drivers I would meet in F Ford. In fact I had little idea about F Ford itself.

 

Who was the hardest guy to race against in 1985?

 

They were all great drivers, and I had battled with all of them. Gachot was probably the craziest, Blundell fastest, Hill that year was not very strong in my view, Herbert did not have a good car (until the Festival....). We still had Ratzenberger, Bancroft, it was great , I learned a lot!

 

Which circuit was your favourite?

 

Brands GP

 

Which corner was your favourite or not?!

Favourite - Bomb Hole (Snetterton)

Worst - Copse (Silverstone)

 

How much pressure was there racing for the Van Diemen factory team?

 

A lot! Mark was fast, and had 1 year experience ahead of me, so I had to learn fast !!! First races were very hard, but when Mark left they gave me a better Minister engine......it helped!!!!

 

What are your memories of the 1985 Festival and how it ended for you (and Bertrand and Jonathan.....?!)

 

I have obviously mixed memories about the Festival. To get pole was fantastic, to crash, well..... unavoidable, it was a shame. I had a great car, and it was possible to win, I met Johnny some 10 years ago and he was still joking about 1985 Festival!! He was the only other driver to lap below 49s, it was really great racing and I think there were close to 200 entries...

 

Was there a driver in FF1600 in 1985 that should of got to F1 but didn't?

 

I think you get into F1 or you do not. I do not believe in should or deserved.....

 

Where do you live and work now and do you still race at all?

 

In 1997 I raced go karts (won a Brazilian championship) and in 2009 I return again but in the shifter class (won the brazilian championship), I have not raced since.

I have been coaching the Draco Renault World Series drivers plus some other Brazilian drivers in Italy F3 and Abarth, plus Franzoni in Renault Alps.

Thanks to Paulo for his thoughts and memories from back in 1985, it certainly was a competitive year in UK 1600!