Simone Tempestini warmed up for next month’s Rally Liepāja-Ventspils with a two-day test in Finland last week and said afterwards that it was like PlayStation come to life.
The 18-year-old Romanian will make his FIA European Rally Championship Production Car Cup debut in a Subaru Impreza R4 STI in Latvia. With no previous experience of driving on snow or ice, Tempestini spent a day on a frozen lake and a day in a snow-coated forest to prepare for round two of the ERC from 1-3 February.
“It was unbelievable, like on PlayStation but in real life,” said Tempestini, who will be joined in the ERC this season by father Marco Tempestini. “I was surprised by the amount of grip in these conditions. Everybody told me that it will be like this but I was still surprised. I had a lot of fun and I will try to build up on all the news things that I’ve learned. The next round in the ERC will be another learning stage for me and my goal is to gain experience for the future.”