Funeral for Michele Alboreto in Italy
Family, friends, companions and fans attended the funeral of Audi works driver Michele Alboreto (44) at a service held on Friday afternoon at the Catholic Parrocchia Gesu Salvatore church in Basiglio, Italy, situated south-west of Milan.
Amongst the many hundreds of guests in attendance were Michele Alboreto´s Audi driver colleagues. During the hour-long service, which was attended by the AUDI AG Board, Head of Audi Sport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich said farewell to his works driver. He again shared his heartfelt sympathy and condolences with the family of the Italian. “Michele, you gave us so much, we will miss you terribly and you will always remain in our hearts,” Dr Wolfgang Ullrich concluded in his speech that he held in Italian.
Michele Alboreto was fatally injured on Wednesday while testing the Audi R8 racing sportscar on the Lausitzring.
The funeral speech of Dr Wolfgang Ullrich:
“Caro Michele, your whole life was dedicated to motorsport, the love for your family and your close friends.
I called you up for Audi in 1998 to share your experience and your energy in developing a racing sportscar for Le Mans. In the shortest time you won the hearts of the whole team and became one of us. Always open, helpful and always there - you were a wonderful person and an extraordinary personality. With impressive professionalism and conviction you were a perfect representative of Audi.
With enthusiasm and dedication you made it possible for us to develop an extremely successful sportscar. You lost your life the day before yesterday, while undertaking your favourite work in the cockpit of our R8 in preparation for your great goal – the victory in Le Mans with Audi.
Michele, you gave us so much, we will miss you terribly and you will always remain in our hearts.”