Twenty-five years of activity is the important milestone achieved in recent days by the ASD Manici Racing Team of Neviano degli Arduini, founded in 1999 by the brothers Stefano and Alessio Manici and then, over the years, carried on by family members.
The Parma team started the 2024 season a few weeks ago with the beautiful victory of the Austrian driver Rafael Neuner on the Pannoniaring circuit in the first round of the BTR Performance Trophy. Last weekend, however, saw the start of the Italian Uphill Speed Championship, where the 21-time Italian champion Manici returned to competitions after almost a year’s break due to last year’s disastrous injury in Isola del Liri. Also starting in the double Umbrian stage was Marco Giovannoni, also involved in the naked 1000 category. Friday’s tests took place under alternating rain and sun defined as not very useful by the riders also due to the slippery asphalt which required a lot of caution in walking it. Luckily the weather definitely improved over the two days of the race, and the Manici team riders were able to gradually become familiar with the track which improved, climb after climb.
Two overall victories came for Manici, even if one heat of the race was won by Lucio Cazzin, author of an excellent performance; instead, Marco Giovannoni always finished on the podium (second on Saturday and third on Sunday).
Here are Manici’s words: «It was a fairly complicated weekend for me, given the long stop I came from, and the Deruta track, which has always been slippery, didn’t make things easier. In the end, however, I managed to set good times in line with those of last year, which allowed me to win three out of four heats and take the lead in the championship”.
Now a month’s break before the second Civs round on the Pieve Santo Stefano – Passo allo Spino (AR) route.
