1989 - Lot 12

1989 SPERONI R2 (1500) Type : 3 point hull Length : 4,25 m Width : 2,10 m Weight : approx. 350 kg Number of seat(s) : 1 Engine : Alfa Romeo Type : 4 cylinders in line Displacement : 1,5 l. Power : approx. 145 hp. The boats, as well as the trailers, have no papers. Three-point racers, all front-engine until the early 1970s, underwent a transformation to rear-engine, similar to racing cars more than a decade earlier. Although subject to very different constraints than cars, this transformation was guided by similar technical motivations to obtain, among other things, a better mass centering and to free the front end in order to improve aerodynamics. Inboard racers with rear engines represent a last approach to preserve the three-point hull before the almost general domination of the catamaran from the 1990s. Among the best Italian specialists in the preparation of this type of racer, Ivo Speroni began his career as the official mechanic of the great champion and record-holder Leopoldo Casanova in the 1960s before developing a highly reputed "officina" on the banks of the River Po. Already very skilled in mechanical matters, the "wizard" of Boretto also began a career as a builder in the mid-1970s. He signed racers in the small and medium displacements like this example of the R2 category of 1500 cm3 launched in 1989. This boat started racing the same year with the driver Franco Bergamini at the wheel, wearing the number 176. It raced for a few years and was then re-motorized with a Fiat 128 4-cylinder of 1300 cm3 to enter a specific promotion formula developed by Fiat with the collaboration of the late champion, builder and multi-record holder of the world Fabio Buzzi (1943-2019) The boat is sold to the Frenchman Bernard Pottier who keeps the race number and remains equipped with the Fiat 128 engine. Jean Van Praet acquires the boat in 2012. He then entrusts the Speroni workshops with the reinstallation of a 4-cylinder Alfa Romeo 1500 to return to the original category. The boat is completely revised on this occasion. It then participates in several historic meetings under the number 4, including the last one in June 2018 in Sacca di Colorno, on the Po.