Ciao Dindo !
Since the 12 Hours of Sebring, the first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, Rinaldo 'Dindo' Capello, has been suggesting that 2012 would be his last season at the wheel of a prototype and that he would decide after the 24 Hours of Le Mans if he was going to finish the season. After 19 years of loyal service at Audi, the 'transalpine' driver finally decided to end the prototype phase of his career while leading the Drivers Championship rankings.
In the trio of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello, the latter is neither the most famous nor the most charismatic, yet he has one more victory than the Scot and has set two more pole times than the Dane. The reserved Italian driver has quietly built his career and he has one of the finest track records of endurance racing: three Le Mans victories, five wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans and two titles in the American Le Mans Series, all with Audi (the Le Mans victory in 2003 was acquired with Bentley, (part of the VAG group, that includes Audi).
Dindo Capello got his first title in 1990 with a VW Golf in Italian touring cars, and repeated the feat in 1996, this time with an Audi A4. It was not however in an Audi that Capello would race his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, but with a McLaren F1 GTR along with Emanuele Pirro, whom he would meet again with Audi the following year, although they never shared the wheel of a German prototype in La Sarthe.
The Italian driver has been part of the Audi adventure since the first laps of the R8, but he would have to wait until 2001 to claim his first win in endurance racing with the Ingolstadt manufacturer: he won the 12 Hours of Sebring with the late Michele Alboreto and Laurent Aiello. That same year, Dindo Capello set his first pole time at Le Mans, but finished the race in second place with Christian Pescatori who replaced Michele Alboreto.
Victory came in 2003 with Bentley with a new team mate who has since never left him: Tom Kristensen. They repeated the feat the following year with the Team Goh Audi R8, with Seiji Ara as the third driver. An unquestionable success, although the car did not start as favourite.
After an interlude of a year in the DTM in 2005, Dindo Capello returned to endurance racing in 2006 with the R10 TDI diesel. First time out and first win at Sebring, but no victory at Le Mans despite pole position. The Italian will be consoled with the ALMS title, as in 2007. That year, Dindo Capello was leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans when he lost a wheel braking for Indianapolis and hit the guardrail with a car out of control. Although Capello attempted to get the car back to the pits, it was too badly damaged. It was one of his three retirements in 14 appearances.
The 2008 victory erased the memory of 2007. This would be the only victory of Le Mans trio McNish-Capello-Kristensen, who won the 12 Hours of Sebring with the new R15 the following year, then with the R18 in March this year; a final victory on the circuit of his first success.
The Italian would have liked to score one last victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to celebrate his birthday, but the contact of Allan McNish with a slower car decided otherwise. There will not be a 'next time', Dindo Capello bows out at top of his game. To those who say he was not the fastest on the track, he scored two poles at Le Mans, but also avoided serious accident throughout his 19 years as a factory driver.
Silver-haired Dindo will not disappear though, he will race in GT with the Audi R8 LMS, as he said: "I remain associated with the brand and will continue to contest races because the Audi R8 LMS ultra is a wonderful GT3 vehicle. I am saying goodbye with a clear conscience because I have no unfinished business with my sport. In all disciplines and categories, Audi and I together have achieved the maximum with victories and titles. As late as in March, we won at Sebring and I’m currently ranking in first place of the WEC standings. I wanted to quit at a time when I was still able to show top performances. This is a pleasant feeling. Should Audi ever get into a situation in which I’m needed I’ll of course be ready to assist."
Ciao Dindo!
Dave Davies (quotes from Audi Sport)
Photo: SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, SATURDAY MARCH 17TH 2012, RACE. A last victory at Sebring before retirement for Dindo Capello.