A Little History of the Birel Chassis

Karting become popular throughout Europe at the end of the fifties. The craftsmen who started building the first chassis in Italy called them "cancelli", "gates", due to their weight and size. Umberto Sala in those days was managing a car and motorcycle shop in Lissone, near Milan. He opened a small light metallurgy workshop and started making his first karts for fun. Sala had competed in motorcycle and car races (including two editions of the Mille Miglia) and karting was a way to release his passion for engines and competitions. Sala's chassis were called "Birel" which was the family's nickname (in Lissone Sala family members are known as the "Birel", with the stress on the letter "e"). Birel won six Formula C World Championship titles in the years from 1990 to 2000 and led the classification of the most winning teams in the 125 ever. The victors were Alessandro Piccini, World Champion in 1990 and 1991, Gianluca Beggio, scored three wins in a row by winning the World Championships in 1997, 1998 and 2000, and Francesco Laudato, 1999 champion. During the first half of the nineties, Birel continued to leave racing activities to external teams but realized that the time to create a new racing department had come. Birel Motorsport was founded in 1995 and managed by Ronni Sala, Oscar's son, who had started managing the company at his father's side. Birel was profitably working with Yamaha during these years: the Japanese major entrusted the production to top level chassis for international competitions to the Lissone based company.