In late April a contingent of Italian amateur drivers from Milan and Turin will wing their way to the States to compete in a Friendship Competition against members of the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA)

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Four talented gentlemen drivers, along with family and friends, will be guests of NAADA and will arrive in America on April 24 to compete against their American counterparts in races at Yonkers Raceway and Monticello Raceway.

“When you land at JFK we’ll pick you up and head straight to Don Peppe Italian Restaurant in Queens and make you guys so fat that the horses cannot go fast when you drive against us (in the competition),” NAADA president Joe Faraldo joked in an e-mail he sent to Enrico Colombino, the president of the Italian Amateur club who will be competing against NAADA members in the upcoming Friendship Competition.

“It doesn’t matter how much we eat we’ll win anyway,” Colombino shot back in a returned e-mail to Faraldo.

According to Faraldo, the visiting Italians are good drivers with one having 890 career wins, which dwarfs any of the American competitors totals.

Faraldo was referring to Giovanni Bechis from Villastellone who is one of Italy’s top amateur drivers.

However, others in their contingent are also talented.

Enrico Colombino from Torino has 268 wins; Marco Montaldo from Torino has 28 wins and Livio Calorio from Corneliano d’Alba has driven 59 winners.

The competition will kick-off at Monticello Raceway on Monday April 27 followed by a contest at Yonkers Raceway on Tuesday, April 29.

(Monticello)