| |
| GPG Super League career | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Italian
|
| Active seasons | 3 - |
| Teams | Phoenix Racing, Tafuro GP, VSM, MPR |
| First GP | S4 Australian GP |
| Driver Statistics | |
| Races | 62 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podiums | 7 |
| Career points | 348 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| First win | S8 Canadian GP |
| Last win | S9 Canadian GP |
| Tester Statistics | |
| Tests | 72 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podiums | 9 |
| Career points | 270 |
Season 3
Edit
Tafuro made his debut in Season 3 during Hockenheim GP's Free Practice, as #2 tester for Phoenix Racing. He keeps testing for the rest of the season. His first season was quite good, with a 2nd place at his second session, at Indianapolis and other points in different places.
Season 4Edit
In Season 4 he makes his racing debut as #2 race driver for Phoenix Racing. He made an indifferent start, as he failed to gain points because of some unlucky events. His season finished strongly with some good points finishes and a 4th place at Sepang Circuit as top result. He was going to race in Season 5, but decided to take over Devil Fox Racing's team slot to bring his own team in the series, disallowing him from racing.
Season 5Edit
Season 5 started well for Tafuro, as he seemed to be able to score many points in first FPs, but then he lost ground on the top 12. MPR announced to have signed him as #2 test driver in Season 6, leaving his own team.
Season 6Edit
Season 6 didn't start really well for the Italian, but come the final standings he is 7th. He managed to take his first win in a session since his S3 debut, by getting the best time at Laguna Seca in the FP.
Season 7Edit
After the S6 end, he announced that he will use his real name, Matteo Scala, instead of Paolo Tafuro. This was thought to be because Mafia agents discovered he was holding out on protection payments. Despite a good performance in S6, MPR preferred to focus on a possible race driver for the future instead of having another teamboss. After many weeks of searching, he will make a comeback to his own team (which changed name to ScalaGP), causing an undesirable situation as the team had to re-announce the lineup twice. The season ended up with ScalaGP dead last in the WCC. Some races before Scala announced the team's retirement while no informations were given about his plans. Later Ricardo Van Smirren (yeh,that idiot) announced him as Scuderia Minardi's new test driver.
Season 8Edit
Scala started the season as 2nd Test Driver in Scuderia Minardi. Despite a not convincing pre-season race. He obtained the pole at Melbourne's feature race, putting himself on top of the time sheets for the 2nd time in his career. On Sunday he won the race, reaching his first win in GPGSL and obtaining the 1st place in the TDC. The good results showed by the Italian and the lack of activity by Ben Johnson caused a swap of seats in the team, causing Scala's comeback among the race drivers for the first time after S4. At his debut race, at Sepang, he reached the 7th place. Just one week later he got an amazing win in the Canadian Grand Prix after starting from the pole position. He got the fastest lap too. As the season progresses he obtains a 2nd place and other three top 10 placement. At Monaco he qualifies in 2nd place but retires during the race after a crash. The following weekend, at Magny Cours, the Italian driver scores his second hat trick (pole position, fastest lap and win). Together with Chris Warrington's most places gained point this was Minardi's best S8 weekend so far. The last two races don't bring other notable results to the Italian racer while the team manages to reach the 3rd place in WCC, remarking Minardi's return to the top places. Something that was quite unexpected at the start of the season.
Season 9Edit
Rumors say that he will retire to focus on his recently discovered alcohol addiction. Other rumors say that he's actually working in a task force to eliminate Silvio "Berlusca" Berlusconi. Other rumors say that, after high school's final exams, he will simply disappear from existence.
Other news say that he might keep on driving till he wins 9 WDCs.
No announcement was made about his intentions. Yet he's going to be seen as VSM #1 racer in S9.
Surprisingly he obtains the pole at the first GP of the new season but in the race he finished 2nd after an early battle with Joseph Gilson and John Maverick. At Kyalami Scala obtained the pole at his last try and dominated the race till last laps when Moinet and Jalving managed to pass him. At Montréal he wins his first race in this season after starting 2nd and being overtaken by Maverick. At this point of the season the Italian driver has obtained points in just 3 races on 6 but he never ended below 3rd. At Road America Scala qualifies in 8th place but after a good start his car lacks the speed and the Italian goes home with a 12th place.
Season 10 Edit
Following the retirement of Van Smirren Motorsports the Italian driver was left without a competitive race seat for S10. Thus MPR found his agreement for testing duties for S10.
Team OwnershipEdit
He owned a team called ScalaGP, which made its debut in GPGSL in Season 5. This was the product of a buyout of Devil Fox Racing.
CuriositiesEdit
- Despite the surname showed above, the Italian driver has nothing to do with Mussolini.
- As well he isn't involved in "Cosa Nostra", "Ndrangheta", "Camorra", "Sacra Corona Unita" or other Italian mafias.
Racing recordEdit
Complete Grandprixgames Super League resultsEdit
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; underlined races indicate most places gained)
| Season | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Phoenix Racing | AUS TD | GER TD | USA TD | CAN TD | EUR TD | SAM TD | NED TD | BEL TD | MAL TD | ENG TD | HUN TD | ITA TD | JPN TD | SMR TD | BRA TD | MON TD | GBR TD | |||
| 4 | Phoenix Racing | AUS 15 | ITA 15 | BEL 15 | JPN 19 | EUR 13 | MON 22 | PAC 6 | RSA 21 | HUN 17 | GER 7 | BRA 19 | UAE 16 | MAL 4 | USA 10 | CAN 10 | NED 12 | GBR 20 | 18th | 29 | |
| 5 | Tafuro GP | AUS 4 | FRA 3 | JPN 5 | BEL 18 | ESP 21 | BRA Ret | GER 14 | NED 11 | EUR 16 | ITA 5 | CAN 17 | UAE 14 | PAC 15 | USA 14 | MON 17 | TUR 22 | GBR 11 | 14th | 39 | |
| 6 | Martini Paddock Racing | AUS 13 | ITA 21 | CAN 11 | HUN 18 | USA 1 | NED 15 | SMR 10 | GER 8 | JPN 3 | SAM 5 | ATL 3 | AUT 2 | MON 8 | FRA 7 | BEL 22 | BRA 3 | GBR 5 | 7th | 94 | |
| 7 | ScalaGP | AUS 19 | GCO 14 | JPN 9 | CAN 13 | USA 8 | FRA 13 | NED 4 | BEL 20 | SUI 17 | ITA 15 | SMR 22 | BRA 21 | OCE 18 | AUT 21 | HUN 21 | GER 18 | GBR 22 | 19th | 18 | |
| 8 | Scuderia Minardi | AUS 1 | SAU 13 | SIN 15 | 27th | 48 | |||||||||||||||
| MAL 7 | JPN 14 | CAN 1 | SAM 10 | BRA 2 | BEL 13 | GER 5 | AUT 10 | SMR 14 | ITA 12 | MON Ret | FRA 1 | LUX 11 | GBR 10 | 9th | 216 | ||||||
| 9 | Van Smirren Motorsports | AUS 2 | JPN Ret | MAL 13 | RSA 3 | ESP 16 | CAN 1 | USA 12 | BRA 6 | BEL 11 | EUR 17 | NED Ret | ITA Ret | AUT 9 | CZE 7 | GER 12 | FRA 13 | GBR 12 | 9th | 62 | |
| 10 | Martini Paddock Racing | AUS 6 | PAC 9 | MAL 12 | JPN 3 | UAE 13 | ITA 4 | AUT 12 | EUR 9 | CAN 8 | USA 18 | BRA 10 | RSA 21 | OCE 13 | GER 4 | BEL 12 | NED 3 | GBR 6 | FLE 18 | 8th | 71 |
| 11 | Maverick Track Performance | AUS 3 | MAL 4 | JPN 15 | ITA Ret | ESP 13 | RSA 6 | BRA 7 | USA Ret | CAN 22 | GER 20 | AUT 11 | BEL 11 | GBR 11 | NED 14 | 13th | 41 |
Career SummaryEdit
| Season | Team | Role | Presences | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 3 | Phoenix Racing | #2 Test Driver | 16 | - | - |
| Season 4 | Phoenix Racing | #2 Race Driver | 17 | 29 | 18th |
| Season 5 | TafuroGP | #1 Test Driver | 17 | 39 | 14th |
| Season 6 | Martini Paddock | #2 Test Driver | 17 | 94 | 7th |
| Season 7 | ScalaGP | #1 Test Driver | 17 | 18 | 19th |
| Season 8 | Scuderia Minardi | #2 Test Driver | 3 | 48 | 27th |
| Season 8 | Scuderia Minardi | #2 Race Driver | 14 | 216 |
9th |
| Season 9 | Van Smirren Motorsports | #1 Race Driver | 17 | 62 | 9th |
