We cannot let May 20th pass without the memory of Pasolini and Saarinen. That tragic day is alive in the memory of many fans: some of them were there in Monza, the others know perfectly well what they were doing when the very bad news arrived
May 20, 2024
PUnfortunately, there is immediately another May date to remember. Sunday 16th, 1976, when at Mugello Otello Buscherini and Paolo Tordi saw their lives shattered in two separate accidents. We, like many, do not forget them and below there is a video that denounces the responsibilities of that tragic day.
AND now my personal memory. On May 2, 1973, for the GP of Nations, I was at the Parabolica, inside, under the turret that jutted out onto the track at the entrance to the most famous Monza curve. In front of me I had the concrete grandstand, the one parallel to the finishing straight, an enormous covered staircase that looked out onto the escape route.
From the Parabolica we had just witnessed Pasolini’s disappointment in the 350 race. Burning, huge disappointment: Renzo was in the lead with his twin-cylinder HD two strokes, he had overtaken Ago on the MV, he had broken the engine at the end when it seemed done.
Many of us were for Pasolini and that day we were waiting for the possible rematch in 250; even if it was difficult, even more so difficult to beat Jarno Saarinen, who with Yamaha had dominated the first three world races of the year at Castellet, Salz and Hockenheim seven days earlier. Too strong for everyone, the Finn, but a here in Monza you could dream.
It was sunny that May 20th, a splendid spring day. His mechanics were in Renzo’s garage but not his family, because their son Stefano Renzo was very young and the little girl, seven-year-old Sabrina, was recovering from appendicitis surgery. Anna Maria, her wife, who was afraid of motorbikes, had stayed at home that time. With Jarno instead there was his wife Soilias always, that beautiful blonde girl we were all a little in love with.
On the first lap, at the first corner, hell. If you want, in this video of ours from a few years ago you will find the detailed reconstruction of the accident at the Curva Nord, better known as the Curvone, together with the testimonies of Gallina and Doctor Costa who tried to revive Renzo Pasolini in that bedlam, with about ten pilots who disastrously crashed, motorbikes and straw everywhere. The Italian pilot still showed some faint signs of life, Jarno had died instantly, his head shattered.
LWhere we were, at the Parabolica, we had heard the shout of the speaker, “Off!”, followed as always by two seconds of absolute silence and then by the distant concert of the engines being pushed. Then nothing more. A few pilots slowly passed in front of us, Lega, Gallina and a couple of others. AND that silence, unreal, heavy, interminable, with the certainty that something very serious had happened.
Minutes passed, the speaker was silent and the people in the stands on the other side of the track wanted to know, they were making noises, there were those who were shouting. Someone saw me conversing with a track marshal who had just left the walkie-talkie and, recognizing me as the young motorcycling journalist, shouted at me: “Cereghini, what did they tell you?“.
I didn’t feel like reporting what I had just learned, that is Saarinen was dead and Pasolini, like Villa, was very serious. How could such terrible news be broadcast brutally, across the track and out loud? I tried to escape, to escape as quickly as possible to run to the pits, many in the stands cursed me.
Renzo Pasolini, like the father he never knew
TOLittle Renzo was only three years old on May 20, 1973; she remembers that she was at home with her mother and little sister in front of the television to follow the race, there was confusion and someone turned off the set. Only a few days later they told him, with a lot of caution, that his father was no longer there; but naturally he doesn’t know how to distinguish between personal memory and the stories he heard later.
In the period following the Monza tragedy, his mother Anna Maria, a year older than her husband, looked for and found work; she had studied, she was a kindergarten teacher, she raised her two children alone because her paternal grandparents lived in Rimini and her maternal grandparents in Sardinia.
“She’s a tough woman – Renzo junior confirms – she has just had a hip replacement and is starting to walk again; even now, at 87 years old, she wants to boss us around. But Dad was tough too, I practically didn’t know him, but he must have taken after grandfather Massimo who I remember very well. Both were outgoing and generous, but they knew what they wanted. Dad has never had such luck, he had to fight, but I think he also had a lot of fun.”
Young Renzo has been working at MV for years, administration area. To begin with, he had done everything at Cagiva, even the assembly line. And before that, when he was studying, in the three summer months he worked in the Schiranna racing department, with Milani and Mascheroni. Nice school.
“I was just a boy, but among racing motorbikes I felt like I was dreaming. And there I learned a lot: on my motorbike I know where to put my hands, and now we’re running out of time, because we have a little girl, she’s 17 months old, but I did many uphill races, first with vintage motorbikes and then with my F3. Unfortunately I got to the bike late, mum didn’t even want to hear about it and I had to figure it out. But I have the bike inside.”
Renzo’s nephew, Mattia
THEI finally hear Mattia, who is Sabrina Pasolini’s son, who unfortunately passed away on 26 July last year, and MotoGP technician Cristophe Leonce. Mattia is twenty-five years old, a healthcare professional, and at home he takes care of three kittens and a little dog who were his mother’s pets. What idea did you have of grandfather Renzo?
“He was great, as they would say today. I think – adds Mattia – that he was a person very close to his family, someone who liked to have fun and who loved what he did. His world was motorbikes, like his great-grandfather Massimo. Everyone tells it like the typical Romagna guy, ready jokes, pranks and pranks. I have a gallery on Pinterest with over 200 saved photos of him.”
Grandma Anna is always present. Unfortunately, her mother, Sabrina, who resembled her pilot father so much, even physically, is no longer here.
“My mother was identical to my grandfather, even in character. She was strong despite her illnesses, she knew how to be tender and sweet. But she was also playful, ready for a joke, even a slightly biting one. My father? And here next to me, almost leaving for Barcelona…”.
Mattia has a passion for music. As a child he received the minibike, then the motocross bike before discovering himself as a musician. But the motorbike remains at the center of his world.
“I never miss the races and I go to Mugello every year. My favorite in MotoGP today? I’ll name two, I really like Martin as a rider and Marc Marquez… who is Marquez, and he doesn’t ask permission to overtake me and remember the pilots politically incorrect from a few years ago…”
