Fernando Alonso looks forward to this weekend’s Oviedo Roadshow. Hopefully there will be more than 100.000 people

The ING Renault F1 Team and Fernando Alonso are gearing up for a very special Roadshow this Saturday on the streets of Oviedo, Fernando’s hometown in northern Spain.

The event will take place in the city centre in front of the Plaza de América on a 1.8km temporary track where Fernando will drive last year’s Renault F1 car, the R28, and various other Renault road cars. The track, which has been specially created, will also include Calle del Conde de Toreno, one of the main highways in Oviedo, offering spectacular viewing opportunities with over 100.000 fans expected to turn out and watch the show.

The Roadshow will get underway at midday on Saturday 5th of September with a series of demonstrations until 1:00pm. Fernando will drive a go-kart, Renault Mégane CC, Mégane Sport RS, Mégane Trophy and finally his Renault F1 Car.

Q&A with Fernando Alonso

Fernando, you will have the chance to drive your F1 car on the streets of your hometown. You must be very excited…

Yes, it will be fantastic and definitely one of the moments of the year for me. It has been one of my dreams to drive my F1 car on the streets where I grew up in front of my family, friends and the people who have always supported me. After the difficult year we have had, it will be nice to experience something different and to celebrate the magic of Formula One. I always enjoy the roadshows, but this one will be extra special.

How many people do you think will come and watch the show?

Difficult to say but I hope as many people as possible as it will be a great day and I’m sure the fans will enjoy it. Hopefully there will be more than 100.000 people but Oviedo is quite small so they will need to come from other cities as well. It will be a nice chance for me to say ‘thank you’ to my fans for their support so I will do my best to put on a great show.

Tell us a bit about Oviedo and what it’s like?

It’s a small industrial town in the north of Spain, but it’s a beautiful area that is very green and fresh as it rains quite often. The people are friendly and most of my family and friends still live there so it’s a very special place for me.

What is your earliest memory of life in Oviedo?

I remember my school days. We lived about a kilometre from my school so I would walk there each morning with my mother or grandmother. My mother and father both worked so I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and my sister and had a very happy childhood. I also remember the times with my school mates as we used to play football and basketball together.

Did you enjoy school?

Yes, I enjoyed my school days as I liked studying and I was always well prepared for exams. I made a lot of friends at school and they remain by best friends today.

Were you in the sports’ teams at school?

Yes, I played a lot of football and I was a goalkeeper – that’s my favourite position as you don’t sweat too much!

Does your family still live in Oviedo and do you get a chance to return there often?

My family still live in Oviedo, although they now live outside the city instead of in the centre. I can’t visit Oviedo as often I would like as I live in Switzerland and I have a busy schedule with all the races and commitments during the season. I try to go back every couple of months for four or five days and I always enjoy this time as much as I can.

Your father was an amateur kart racer – how did he become interested in kart racing?

He managed to build a home-made go-kart with some friends and they enjoyed it so they started racing each other and entered the local championship of Oviedo. Then my dad built a go-kart for my sister when she was seven, but she didn’t like it so my dad put me in the kart. I was only two years old at the time and I enjoyed it so it became my go-kart.

What was that first go-kart like?

Obviously it was very small with a lot of extensions so I could reach the pedals. It was red and white as it was 1984 / 1985 and I think my father was inspired by the McLaren colours when he made the kart. We used to take it to a car park and I would drive laps, but the kart was very slow so my father could walk alongside me.

Did you dad ever race with you?

He did only one race against me when I was ten or eleven years old and he managed to beat me! But that was his last race because once he had beaten me he didn’t want to race against me anymore!

How difficult was it to follow Formula One in Spain while you were growing up?

It was very difficult and I didn’t really follow Formula One until I was sixteen or seventeen. There was no live television coverage when I was young and we didn’t have the internet coverage like there is today. So I used to watch football – the Spanish League – and that was my main entertainment.

A special edition of the ING Renault F1 Team podcast featuring an interview with Fernando previewing the Oviedo Roadshow is now available on the team’s website. Alternatively, the podcast can be downloaded from iTunes.

By Renault

Check the Photo SlideShow here!

Update: Michael Schumacher said two days of karting in Italy had given his body a good workout as he stepped up his physical training programme ahead of his Formula 1 comeback. The seven-time world champion spent Wednesday and Thursday at a favourite karting haunt in Lonato near Lake Garda, where he was joined by Ferrari’s long-serving test driver Luca Badoer. The high grip levels generated by ultra-light shifter karts makes them physically demanding to drive and gives them similar handling characteristics to F1 cars, which is why many F1 drivers use them regularly to stay fit and race-sharp.

Schumacher said the two days in Lonato had been not only enjoyable but an important physical tune-up in preparation for his F1 return. “Arms, upper body, shoulders, neck – it was simply excellent training,” he told his website. “Over the next few days I will continue working at home.” Schumacher is poised to come out of retirement and stand in for Felipe Massa while the Brazilian continues his recovery from a skull fracture sustained at last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The 40-year-old German will undergo fitness checks to ensure that his neck – injured in a motorbike accident in February – is strong enough to withstand the rigours of F1 competition.

Michael Schumacher may have been prevented from testing a current Ferrari Formula One car in his build-up to the European Grand Prix. But here he is fulfilling his need for speed… in a go-kart! The German great took to the track in Lonato, Italy, yesterday in a mini-machine light years away from the brutal F1 car he will pedal in Valencia on August 23. Maybe Schumacher, who will replace the injured Felipe Massa at the Spanish event, thought it would help him exercise his dodgy neck. The 40-year-old, retired for nearly three years, needs to build up muscle and G-force resistant tendons before his much-vaunted F1 return.

By Sun and ITV and AP and MS

RED Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has been secretly taking a spin on the local go-karting track to prepare for the new Formula One season.

The Australian driver spent time at Daytona in Milton Keynes as part of his rehabilitation to return from a broken leg.

Webber, 32, fractured his leg during a charity bicycle race in Tasmania last year and faced a race against time to make it back for the 2009 season.

But his return was perfectly timed for the unveiling of Red Bull’s new car thanks to some help from the Daytona racetrack.

With limited practise sessions in F1 Webber asked bosses at Daytona if he could squeeze in a few laps in their new DMaz 2-stroke Birel karts.

Webber was able to test the strength of his right ankle to see if could handle constant pressure from the accelerator and brake before stepping into Red Bul’s RB5.

General Manager, Lee Jackson, said: “What a thrill to see Mark Webber tearing around our international circuit. He really gave our new DMax karts a shake down and proved to himself that his leg has healed superbly. A win for all.”

The new Formula One season starts in Melbourne on March, 29.

By MKNews

A Bernie Ecclestone-backed karting series will support Formula One races in Europe beginning in 2010.

Britain-based Formula Kart Stars, formerly the Stars Of Tomorrow series, was launched recently with 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton in attendance.

Organisers said the series could spread to overseas grands prix in the future, and 23-year-old Hamilton is the official patron.

“He has always been supportive of the championship and has remained involved ever since he raced with us more than 10 years ago,” said series director Carolynn Hoy.

By F1STV