by Alicia Schwartz, for the NAADA

Hurleyville, NY — The American team of Joe Faraldo, president of the North American Amateur Drivers; Alan Schwartz, President of the Yonkers Club; and NAADA member Mike Strada recently returned home after they represented the USA in a three-country international event in Italy. But they came home empty handed.

“We finished third and the Swedes were second best as the home-town Italians once again drove on to victory,” Faraldo said. “It was great fun and our hosts couldn’t have been more congenial. We kept up with them in all aspects and maybe even outdid them in food and wine consumption, but they prevailed on the racetracks.”

“We spent two beautiful days at the seashore in Alassio to prepare for this event, prior to any racing,” noted USA team member Alan Schwartz. “The weather was cooperative and, of course, we cannot speak highly enough of the food and wine that the Italian contingency forced us to partake in.

“We raced in two places in Northern Italy. On April 10 we were at Albenga, a beautiful Mediterranean town with a five-eighths-mile track that looked like a picture postcard. It was opening day and we (the Friendship Competition) were the main event on the card. We placed in both races, but the Italians won that round.

“The next day we went on to Torino, to the Hippodrome at Vinovo, where our race was very prominent on the card. That was also the day of the Gran Premio Citta’ Di Torino which went for 99,000 Euros,” Schwartz continued. “The top driver in Sweden, Kilhstrom Orjan, was flown in for that race and did exactly what the Swedes anticipated he would do and he won the event. It was quite exciting, even though somewhat anti-climatic, after the amateur events that we were in.”

Host Enrico Columbino, President of the Italian Amateur Club, prepared a memorable program for his guests, all of whom enjoyed themselves tremendously. Before the US contingent headed home, plans were made that NAADA would again host the Italians, perhaps later this year.

“It will be awfully hard to match their hospitality, and certainly we don’t have the history that northern Italy does, but when they visited us last year they had a wonderful time, too,” Faraldo said. “And I’m giving them fair warning that when they come here next time we’ll be ‘loaded for bear’ and they will chase us on the racetracks like we chased them in Italy.”