Categoria: Talent Development

Bruce McLaren not only was (and still is at statistical record), one of the youngest F1 talents and winners; he was the last F1 driver to win a Grand Prix driving a car carrying his name and developed also thanks to his engineering degree and skills. Besides that he was also an ambitious successful motorsport entrepreneur  winning key races and championships in Europe and the USA while competing in several categories with his own cars at the same time and even making his very own road supercar prototype. Too bad that all of this ended tragically too soon. Yet is legacy lives on strongly. This book tells a behind the scenes story about it all.

During Austosport International 2020 (NEC Birmingham, UK) Riccardo Paterni (RPM VP Business Development), Dr Tim Angus (RPM Board Advisor and UK Representative), Giorgio Casolari (RPM VP Network Develpment) and Nicoletta Visconti (Pistal Racing CEO) met members of Coventry University’s Centre for Business in Society, which incorporates key individuals with world leading motorsport industry research expertise, including Professor Nick Henry , Dr Tim Angus himself and Dr Kevin Broughton. It has been very interesting and valuable to learn first hand about motorsport business roots and growth dynamics from the people that originated seminal research in the field twenty years ago and have been reviewing them since. RPM has close linkages with Coventry University and has strenghen them for the purpose to shape and sustain growth strategies for the network and its members within a motorsport business scenario in marked evolution.

On 19th September 2019 RPM had its second organisational General Counsel after the one held in Rome last April. The meeting was hosted at the headquarters of Andreoli & Co. Srl , a RPM member, in Maranello, the company has 36 years of experience spanning in designing, manufacturing and certifying components for motorsport, automotive and other strategic industries such as energy and the aerospace sector ( www.andreolisrl.com ). We thank Andreoli for their kind hospitality; it has been a pleasure to visit their facilities and gain a first hand feel for the breadth and depth of their projects.

Almost all of the current RPM members (coming from all over Italy) were present to continue to empower in action plans RPM’s vision and mission. Besides administrative and bureaucratic work on the agenda (current fiscal year budget report and approval), the focus of the meeting has been to review the characteristics and development of the RPM website (released last July www.rpm-italia.org in all of its functional and organisational characteristics) and on ways to expand national and international business networking in the field of motorsport and other technologically related sectors.

RPM presence to upcoming and future international trade shows and events has been discussed and defined in action plans. The focus on ongoing development of international relations in geographical areas and sectors suitable for growth has also been debated.

It has been pointed out that the core of the development of the network and its members resides in establishing a stronger reciprocal knowledge enabling the strengthening of ties already present among members and establishing new ones within the network and towards external entities.

The focus has to be on identifying and sharing at best the own unique competencies channelling them at best in order to pursue international business development and continue to pursue innovation projects. Specific organisational programs on this subjects are in preparation and will be implemented. Related to these purposes a survey has been approved for data and information gathering customised to tailor at best RPM and its members development needs. Upcoming entering members to RPM have also been announced. Stay tuned for updates relevant to all of the activities.

RPM (acronym for Rete Professionisti Motorsport – Motorsport Professionals Network in Italian) is a network of companies and professionals that promote innovation globally through Italian Motorsport Excellence.

 

 

From their recently released website:

“Innovation is at the heartof business success in the modern globalised knowledge economy. Italian firms are renowned for their innovative capability, particularly the innovatory capability  of the small and medium size firms (SMEs) that make up the backbone of the Italian economy. Within the global motorsport industry, Italy is well known as being one of the global centres for the  industry, with names such as Ferrari and Ducati being just two of the global players within motorsport that are based in Italy. At the same time, Italian SMEs working  within the motorsport industry are also world class in the quality of their  product and their innovatory capacity. RPM  has been formed to promote these Italian SMEs capabilities both within Italy and outwards to the world in the field of motorsport as well as in many others technologically advanced fields.”

At this link the Vision, Mission and Values of this formal network of SMEs operating in the from the Italian Motorsport Industry to the world 

Visit the newly released websiteto learn about all of the players and their latest news.

On May 16th 2019, the first edition of the Motor Valley Fest has begun with a conference held in Modena at municipal theatre named after Luciano Pavarotti. The Conference, focusing on the future of automotive, has featured a round table by the top management of the companies that traditionally represent the backbone of the Motor Valley: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati, Dallara and other automotive specialists.

 

The topic has been introduced by a research elaborated and presented by McKinsey & co. Here the contents relevant to such research Automotive revolution, perspective towards 2030 and Race 2050 – A vision for the European automotive industry 

The round table debate has focused on debates relevant to electric vehicles overall actual impact on reducing environmental pollution and mostly ways in which synergies can be created among companies, universities and public entities in order to generate the necessary structural dynamic changes within the industry.

As Mr.Pontremoli, Dallara CEO, has summarised well, the Motor Valley has unique opportunities within these changing contexts: “No longer the dynamics are simply the ones of the bigger fish eating the smaller one; today is the fast fish that beats the slow one, and we are fast by default”.

The Founding

On 12 March 2019, the network of companies known as RPM (Rete Professionisti Motorsport – Motorsport Professionals Network) was founded by a notary in Modena where the founding members of the network signed the deed of incorporation. The network is comprised of Italian companies and professionals operating globally in the manufacturing and service sectors of the Motorsport Industry.

The purpose of RPM is to create synergies between firms in order to enhance industry capability and to promote Italian Motorsport and performance engineering excellence throughout the world by generating innovation within the field of Motorsport and technologically related sectors. La Sapienza – Rome University and Pisa University are already strategically and operationally involved with the network in order to enhance and implement a research based approach to technological developments and organisational improvements within the rapidly changing global marketplace of motorsport and related sectors.

The First General Counsel

On 11 April 2019, the founding members of the network met in Rome on the occasion of the Formula E Rome ePrix for the first general formal counsel of the network. Organisational, operational and strategic pathways of development were set for the short, mid and long term. About twenty founding members, from the extreme north to the extreme south of Italy, representing various capabilities and component manufacturing in the field of Motorsport and related sectors, have begun the process to identify their core competencies and levers of excellence in order to create strong synergies of development within the network. Another aim of the network is to establish concrete national and international co-operation for business development for the industry. The timeless scenery offered by a Roman terrace was the setting for a social dinner following the general formal assembly. This was a great location to channel a sense of the talent and excellence of the industry through tradition, the present and the future in typical Italian style.

The First Public Conference

On 12 April 2019, in the timeless historical premises of La Sapienza University’s Engineering faculty, RPM launched its first public conference. The network was presented by tracing back to its roots, its present and future aims and these introductory contents were further articulated by specific specialists in their field. Francesco Sedea (RPM President), Riccardo Paterni (RPM Vice President of Business Development) and Giorgio Casolari (RPM Vice President of Network Development) moderated the debate that followed.

Engineer Luca Marmorini, from Marmotors Srl (a founding RPM member) briefly illustrated the pathway of technological developments that have linked and are linking Motorsport to the future of mobility. In particular he pointed out the traditional strength of Motorsport companies in harnessing prototyping by embracing with focus and flexibility the toughest challenges of prototype manufacturing technology’s. He also pointed out that Motorsport has traditionally worked on an efficiency perspective in order to generate performance and that this is a key value added to many projects not only in Motorsport (for example key people operating in the SpaceX Elon Musk program have Motorsport background).

Professor Leone Martellucci, from the Engineering Faculty of La Sapienza University (a close cooperation is likely to develop in technology terms between this university and RPM) added that going even beyond efficiency, the future of mobility is linked to alternative sources of energy and in this too the ‘Motorsport mindset’ has shown to be a winning factor. He spoke about his experiences as a student with the legendary Giotto Bizzarrini and illustrated the accelerating progress of power energy management through the evolution of the Formula Student SAE projects.

Dr. Tim Angus, Honorary Research Fellow from Coventry University, pointed out the research that has been done throughout the years on the UK relevant to the growth and dynamics of the Motorsport Industry in that country . This included the UK motorsport industry’s direct knowledge transfer links to other sectors such as automotive, aerospace and defence amongst others. In terms of industrial identity and synergic developments the Italian Motorsport Industry has similarly relevant paths to follow and one of RPM’s network aims is to focus directly on guiding and implementing this process of industry diversification.

Engineer Rodi Basso, Motorsport Director – McLaren Applied Technologies, fascinated the audience with a presentation with the title ‘The humanistic face of Motorsport’ pointing out how the context of Motorsport has evolved into a vision embracing technology and marketing in a powerful flow of effective innovation; a vision that in itself has the potential to fuel innovation driven by sustainability, entertainment and a sense of convergence regarding serving the actual needs of the market,. This kind of flexible, focused approach, rooted in Motorsport, is effectively utilised in fields as diverse as automotive, healthcare and natural resources preservation and management.

Finally Professor Riccardo Giannetti, from the Economics and Management Faculty of Pisa University (who are already cooperating with advising on RPM’s organisational set-up), pointed out the organisational aspects that can be utilised to create synergies among business models already present within the RPM network. He also outlined how to shape new business models by leveraging the varied competencies present within the RPM network. Ways to evaluate RPM performances have also been suggested by Professor Giannetti.

The RPM (Rete Professionisti Motorsport) performance engineering Motorsport network has been founded in Modena on March 12th 2019.

Several Italian motorsport industry companies, representing varied specific technical fields, are among the founding members spread across Italy from north to south of the peninsula.

Coming up an event, concurrent to the Formula e ePrix in Rome in April, presenting officially the network, its purposes and development strategies. Stay tuned.