Racing season 1976


The debut of the promotional class Fiat 128
In the two-year period 1976-1977 the UlM gave up organizing the races that awarded the Continental and World Titles for the R1 1000 cc and R3 2000 cc categories, while in Italy our inboard motorsport was concentrated exclusively on the national classes.

The FlM in fact establishes the Italian Championship for small Inboard Racing of the Formula Fiat 128 which sees the drivers compete with equal chances of victory since the monotype hulls of fiberglass and wood at their disposal are all built in series by the Lucini and Frigerio shipyard in synergy with the FB Marine Design of Fabio Buzzi.
These boats are equipped with the same engine as the Fiat 128 Coupé SL 1300 cc cars (series 128 AC-ON-00679867 FIA N 5441) with distributor ignition and 85 HP; the only permitted variant is the free exhaust. The minimum weight of the boat and engine is 285 kg.
The more than positive premises for this promotional class, already glimpsed in 1975 with the first appearances both in cross-country races and in a demonstration race in Peschieta del Garda, find their maximum consensus at the start of the first Italian Championship race in Sarnico, where thirteen competitors are counted in the two tests. For some of them it is a real debut, not only in this formula, but also in motorboat competitions in general.
The interesting championship that takes place over seven beautiful races (Sarnico, Taranto, Valenza Po, Peschiera del Garda, Sacca di Colorno, Auronzo and Bastida Pancarana) sees the winner Vittorio Benini from Ferrara.
Excellent performances also provided by other pilots such as Zarantonello, Muggiati, Massoni, Telasio, Casucci, Testa, Fogli, Cornacchione; names that in a short time will rise to the honours of the chronicles in this and other classes.

In the other inboard category (R3N 2000 cc), during the season, Antonio Petrobelli and Guido Caimi returned to circuit racing with the racers.
The first, who had not neglected the classic long-distance races, had been absent from the "short circuit" for about two seasons; the other returned after a period with the Fuoribordo Corsa.
Another important debut with the R3N was that of Nicola Mora, already an appreciated pilot in various specialties and son of the unforgettable Paolo, motorboat champion in the 40s and 50s in the outboard classes. Renato Molinari also took part in the first appointment of the Italian R3N Championship in Sarnico, but luck was not on his side. After winning the first heat, dominating the entire group of opponents aboard the catamaran he built with an Alfa Romeo engine, he was deprived of the victory because he did not have a paddle on the hull, as required by the regulations. In the second race a controversial downgrading for early start does nothing but fuel the already considerable controversy.
During the championship, various successes are recorded in the various races by Petrobelli, Virgilio Molinari and Ruggeri (the latter a true revelation), and towards the end of the season also by the returning Caimi.
In the end, however, the 1976 Italian Title of the R3N is won by the feisty Ermes Prospero, who wins few races but optimizes the results like Niki Lauda (champion with Ferrari of F. 1 in those years) and totals, race after race, always precious points.
In second place in the final classification we find, as in the previous year, Renato Moraglione. As regards the cross-country races, in the current year, there are only three absolute victories reported by "our" inboarders.

Giuseppe Colnaghi wins again in style the 36th edition of the Raid Pavia-Venezia, always with the same catamaran A.Molinari-Mercruiser.
For the Milanese champion it is another affirmation that reconfirms how the competition between inboard and outboard hulls is increasingly current and intense. In this Raid, in the final ranking, the winner precedes the Fuoribordo Corsa of Renato Molinari and the surprising Teresio Lupano. Fourth overall is the tenacious Leopoldo Casanova, with his racer Lucini e Frigerio-Alfa Romeo "Montreal", author of a performance that is memorable.
At full speed Casanova is thrown out of the cockpit and, fortunately remaining unharmed, manages to get back on the boat and resume the race, even managing to obtain the highest speed in the Revere-Pontelagoscuro stretch, a performance that earns him the assignment of the Coppa Montelera.

In the Trofeo Due Ponti in Boretto Po, Antonio Petrobelli significantly improves the race lead that he himself held. The success of the Paduan driver is completed, in the general classification, by the second place of Roberto Brunelli followed by Antonio Bcsagni, all driving glorious Timossi-BPM 8000 cc boats entered in the R°° class.

Finally, I would like to point out the well-deserved victory of Eugenio Molinari in the Giro del Lario, once again riding a three-pointer of his own construction powered by a BPM 8000 cc. The average speed was also good (161.821 km/h) even if lower than that set by himself in 1974.


Inboard racing seasons
Racing season 1977