The memory of Elio Imberti, Lella Lombardi's trainer in the European Touring Car Championship (1982-1984)

I got to know Lella Lombardi through another driver for whom I was looking after the car around 1982.

Anna Cambiaghi had taken a Delta car and had raced for them. At the time, Delta was following Formula One cars and didn’t have time to take care of her car as well. So they advised her to find a mechanic and gave her the car anyway.

Anna Cambiaghi called me and decided to give me the car, to prepare it for the race that was to be held shortly thereafter in Rome for the European Touring Car Championship. On that occasion, Lella Lombardi would also participate in the race.

Lella was driving an Alfa Romeo, but it wasn’t going very well; in fact she didn’t get any memorable results in that race. So I offered to make some modifications to make the car go faster, so I also took Lella Lombardi into the team.

In the following race, in England, the car doubled the second. The performance was so astonishing that the Audi team made a complaint to have the car checked to see if the engine complied with the regulations.
The Audi team was so impressed by the speed of Lella’s car that they feared the engine was over the allowed capacity.

In England, once an inspection had been requested, it was customary to agree on a figure between the parties, proposed by the person subject to the inspection. If everything then went smoothly, the one who requested the check would have to pay it to the other. Otherwise, if irregularities were found, then I would have to pay the sum.

Being confident that I was right, and that I had only made improvements to the car, I proposed 6 million Lire as a figure. Audi believed it was a bluff to avoid the inspection and agreed.

The next day, engineers from Germany would arrive for the inspection.

Audi’s reasoning, however, was straightforward: the car wasn’t going fast before, even if the Delta was running it, now that a village mechanic was looking after it, how did he do it? Surely he must have used a 3000 engine instead of a 2500.

The technicians disassembled everything and actually verified that the car was smooth. At the end the Audi engineer said: ‘We disrespected you, you could tell that to the newspapers to make yourself known and show how good you are’ but I said nothing out of respect and they thanked me. Of course, from then on there were more checks, but they were never requested by the Audi team.

We came home with the engine in pieces, but I would have had to overhaul it before the next race anyway. The overhaul is essential before every race because each check allows the car to perform better.

If you don’t change the engine after a certain number of kilometres then it breaks down.

That race in England was the 3rd race of the European Championship and every time they did engine checks. We won many races with that car, even ahead of names like BMW.

Having a well-performing car and a good, spirited driver is the necessary combo to reach the finish line and victory.

I have had many drivers and none were as fast as Lella Lombardi.

She had an innate sensitivity for understanding the car. She perceived every single change, even the most minute and imperceptible one.

The Alfa Romeos were Auto Delta’s but I had them on loan and took care of their maintenance.

For each circuit we had to set up the car, change the springs, shock absorbers. Lella raced in the same car as the test driver of the Delta car, but she had a unique feeling for understanding the car and its set-up. I tried to follow the directions of both of them, but with Lella’s directions the car ran better. Not only was she a good driver on the track, but also in the preparation phase she was connected to the car in a special way, she was precise, sensitive and determined. Every indication she gave was specific and always aimed at making improvements. Drivers often ask for minimal changes, maybe then they don’t notice anything but still want to be heard by the mechanic. In the capacity of mechanics, in order to make the drivers happy, we used to say that we had made modifications even when maybe nothing had changed, but in this way the drivers were happy. In those cases, you could really realize that they didn’t feel the car at all.