Born
in Asiago (Vicenza) in 1957, Vittorio Caneva began his racing
career in 1976, participating in both national and international
races in a Group 2
Fiat
127 and an
Opel
Kadett GTE. In 1979 he participated in the Trophey
A112,
where he proved to be a fast driver and managed to complete
the
season
in fifth place. The following year Caneva participated in
the same championships with a
Jolly
Club vehicle and placed 2nd in the final standings by
winning two races and collecting numerous podium placings.
In 1982 he was hired by Citroen Italy who entrusted him
with the small
Group
B Visa. This vehicle led him to place 2nd in the Italian
Group B Championship and to win the group at the
San
Remo World Rally. This led to a three-year collaboration
with
Citroen,
with amazing results for the small engine capacity of the
vehicle, including a 4th overall at Piancavallo and various
other
top-ten
rankings. In 1984 Caneva raced the
Visa
1000 Piste 4-wheel drive at the Emerald Coast and was
the 2nd Italian racer to compete with a 4x4 in an official
race. With this 4x4
vehicle,
Caneva classified 3rd place all round in the Gran Sasso
rally at Teramo. This vehicle was later found to be rather
untrustworthy because of the excessive distances in the
Italian Open Championchips that year, but still managed
to make an impression with the excellent times that this
small car obtained.
In 1985, Caneva moved across to Ford Italy where he was
occupied with the debut of the
Group
A Escort Turbo. This vehicle unfortunately did not often
make it to the finish, but still allowed Caneva to confirm
his driving capabilities and at the end of
1986
he was acclaimed as one of the best Italian drivers. Precisely
because of these capabilities he was hired by
Lancia
to race the
world
rally championship in the N Group. There he was also
involved in the testing of the brand new Delta 4 WD in both
Group A and in
Group
N. Even though he proved to be a fast and professional
driver, the group decided to utilize other drivers for it’s
future projects. At this point Caneva decided to manage
his own programme, but soon had to give up because of lack
of funding. At the prospect of returning to the Italian
Championsip Caneva preferred to withdraw from competition
and decided to move on, turning his knowledge and passion
into the creation of the rally school that boasts his name.
The school was immediately successful, thanks also to the
direct participation of various “big” name rally drivers
in the various courses organized at the school.
For
four winter seasons the
Vittorio Caneva
RALLY SCHOOL managed the Lago Losetta track in
SESTRIERE,
the only permanent winter track in eEurope, organizing courses
for all the best known car and tire producers.
In 1996 Caneva began collaborating with
Piero
Liatti, the only Italian
driver
to race in the World rally championships. This has allowed
Caneva
to remain in close contact with the rally “bigs”
(He co-operated with champions as
Biasion, Alen, Toivonen, Cerrato, for manufacturers
as Pirelli and Michelin, Ford, Lancia,
Subaru,
SEAT,
Hyundai,
he joined
tests
and shakedowns in every World Rally Championship event)
and to constantly update his knowledge of the frenetic
development
of the cars by following as many races as possible in order
to transmit up-to-date and accurate information to his students.
