Geneva (CH) January 1, 2009: Macau Grand Prix winner and GP2 Series driver Edoardo Mortara is excited by his father’s plans to set the record for the fastest flight around the world.

Riccardo Mortara, a former WRC driver turned professional pilot, aims to beat the world circumnavigation record set by legendary pilot Steve Fossett. Mortara and his crew will take off from Bucharest, Romania, on January 29, 2010, will fly eastbound, and must return to Bucharest in under 67 hours one minute and ten seconds in order to achieve a new world record.

“My father was a fantastic rally driver, and I’m lucky to have inherited some of his talent for driving. My dad has always had a love for sport and a dedication to competition that you really have to respect. Therefore, I am thrilled for him that he has taken on this amazing challenge to set the record for flying around the world in the quickest time,” says Edo.

“When he told me he was going to do it, I was so preoccupied with what was happening with my season in GP2, and all the pressure that came with that, that I don’t think the scale of what he’s taking on really registered. It was kind of like ‘That’s nice, dad. Anyway…’! With the 2009 season wrapped up I am only now able to take it on board.”

Riccardo explains how the challenge came about: “The thought of trying to beat the record first came to me while watching my son, Edo, competing at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.”

“I thought back to when I was racing and playing ice hockey for Italy; the buzz that I got from competition, from pressure. You need goals in life, and it’s good to set the bar high. In my youth, the goal was to play for my country and to race in the WRC, and I was successful in these endeavors. Edo’s goal is Formula One, and I support his ambition.

“My motor racing days are behind me. My life now is flying. But what, I thought, if I were to fly against the clock. To take on one of the greatest challenges in aviation – to be fastest around the world.”

The need for speed is clearly in the genes, and Edo himself is learning to fly: “Flying, like racing, is a big part of our family. My grandfather was also a skilled pilot, as is my brother. I, too, am learning to fly. So far I’ve flown about 30 hours in single-engined training planes.

“My focus right now is racing cars, but perhaps I will follow in my father’s footsteps and become a professional pilot someday. I’ll be sure to let him keep the world record for a while, though!”

Riccardo and his crew will fly a 1980 Sabreliner 65, a mid-size twin-engine private jet that is seven years older than Edoardo. “I elected to take my ‘Sabre’ on this trip, because it’s fast, strong and reliable. Its wings are built from a single piece of steel, so when you encounter turbulence you feel nothing,” says Riccardo.

World record administrators, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, dictate that the plane and pilots must achieve a minimum distance of 36,770km, passing through all of the meridians.

The Sabreliner will fly over 31 countries and will stop in Abu Dhabi, Colombo, Macau, Osaka, Petropavlovsk, Anchorage, Las Vegas, Montreal, Keflavik and Casablanca. Like a motor racing pitstop, the clock will be ticking during the time it takes to re-fuel. The crew aim to complete each stop in under 40 minutes.

Mortara and his crew are taking on one of the toughest challenges in aviation.