29/08/2011 | In Modena, the way onto the track is through DITEC sectional doors

DITEC Team and DITEC Expert combine to construct a winner

“The first words that children learn here are ‘mummy’, then ‘vroom vroom’; it’s only later that they learn to say ‘daddy’…” Well, that might not be strictly true – folk from Emilia have an innate taste for absurd humour – but what is certain is that motors (or mutór, as they call them) are close to their hearts, even from an early age.
This is Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar, delicious deep pink hams and tasty grana cheeses, the philosophy festival and the Military Academy, with a historic city centre rightly worthy of UNESCO world heritage status – and much more besides. Despite all that, what really sets the pulse racing here are the triumphs of Ferrari, based in nearby Maranello, the taut and bold lines of the De Tomaso cars that were built in the city, along with the powerful Maseratis, while for a few years, Bugatti was based just a few miles away, in Campogalliano.
The throb of engines is like a heartbeat in this flat and fertile land, or Food Valley, as it is known by connoisseurs of good eating all over the world, or Motor Valley, retort engineering devotees – and yet it seems so obvious that the same place can be both, that both these aspects complement one another. After all, those with a taste for excellence in one field will hardly put up with anything less in another.
So which is the first race track that springs to mind, here in Modena? Fiorano Modenese, for sure, the Ferrari-owned circuit, which has witnessed the exploits of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history. Yet there is another worthy of note, in the Modena Safe Driving Centre, which is set to open in autumn 2011. This will be the most advanced test circuit in Europe, equipped with the cutting-edge technology to recreate or simulate any driving conditions, with a particular focus on energy saving.
Indeed, sustainable motoring will be the real challenge of the future.
The project was given the green light in 2009 and is being run by Vintage S.p.a., a company set up by a group of local businesspeople. The site is a former quarry that had been home to the local aerodrome until the 1960s. The track will be the centre for a host of other motoring activities – a safe driving school, a kids’ driving school (with separate track), teaching rooms and a university centre – and all the associated facilities at the tourist and recreational complex, with its conference hall, meeting rooms, hotel, restaurant, bar, bookshop, wellness centre and even a car museum. It’s a great training and sporting facility, one that has been developed mainly with corporate incentive and motivational initiatives in mind.
DITEC also has a hand in this project. A circuit needs doors for the pit area, to give access to the pit lane, on one side, and to the paddock area behind, on the other. And DITEC Team, the DITEC group company that takes direct care of our most important customers, supported by Service Automazioni S.r.l. (the local DITEC Expert) for the installation work, has supplied the circuit with an impressive 42 Lisbon sectional doors, many of which featuring a pedestrian entrance with lowered threshold. As we mentioned, those with a taste for excellence in one field will naturally demand the best in other areas too...