Photo: Roger Gascoigne
Ryan Briscoe was the first driver to win an international single-seater title for Prema when he won the inaugural Formula 3 Euro Series season in 2003.
He did so against a grid featuring full-time rivals such as Timo Glock and Nico Rosberg, and that title also made him the team’s first two-time champion having secured his first crown in Formula Renault 2.0 Italy in 2001.
At Prema’s 40th anniversary celebrations Briscoe discussed the impact the Italian outfit has had on his racing career, which has so far included podiums in A1GP, eight wins and 13 poles (with one at the Indianapolis 500) in IndyCar, two overall American Le Mans Series wins and three overall IMSA victories. Two of those were in the Daytona 24 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
“My Prema story. So it’s the beginning of my racing career really out of go-karts. As for so many drivers,” he recalled.
“End of 2000, I had my first races with Prema in FRenault. We did the winter series, and I was part of Toyota’s driver academy, so a huge step for me in my career.
“I never thought I could make it to race cars, and Angelo [Rosin, Prema’s co-founder] and Grazia [Troncon] were a huge part in teaching me so much, and we won a lot of races togeher. So many great memories. And for a time that expanded three to almost four years, so a very special time in my career.”
Briscoe took a total of 15 wins during his time with Prema. His eight victories in 2003, four of which came in the first five races, were enough to take the F3 title with a round to spare. This was despite not scoring in seven races, equating to more than a third of the season.
“It’s great [to have been a double champion with Prema]. So many great races that we had, and we won two championships together, so unbelievable.”
As for standout memories, Briscoe points to the food the team fed their drivers with.
“So many great memories. So much good food. I remember Giorgio, the cook, and just so many great meals at the race tracks. I remember so many unbelievable races as well.
“I think there was a pivotal point at which, I think – I give Angelo so much credit – in 2003 in the F3 Euro Series we started the year really strong, and then it was a third of the way into the season we had a really difficult round at Nurburgring and didn’t have a good result. I remember we spent two days at the race shop, and Angelo was just grilling me, the engineers, everyone that we had to fix the problem. We changed everything on the race car, geometry on the suspension, just pouring over data. And we went to the next race at the A1-Ring [now the Red Bull Ring] and dominated and won both races.
“I just remember it really came down to Angelo’s will to win and do whatever it takes, and I’ve carried that my whole career.”