“Burdel da cursa” it is said in Romagna. In the land of motors you start riding early, very early indeed. Many arrive at the MotoGP and some even in MotoGP. The Riders’ Land has fished out this beautiful photo with Niccolò Antonelli, Enea Bastianini, Alessio Cappella and Andrea Migno: all in yellow and black Pasini Mini Project Riccione as Boris Casadio recalled.
They were very young, already passionate about motorbikes and very fast. “Enea Bastianini was a member of the Pasolini Moto Club at 3 years and 3 months – the historic manager Martino Barberi said in an interview given to Corsedimoto – he rode around on a minibike and I had to get him the suit. The problem was his height: he was just 97 centimeters tall and there were no suits that small. I went to a craftsman who made them and he thought I had taken the measurement wrong but that was exactly the case. He had to make him a suit completely by hand. The first few years he went around but he couldn’t take part in the official races, then he started and we all know how it went.”
Enea Bastianini is the only one of the 4 who still competes in the MotoGP full-time. As we all know she is in MotoGP with Ducati and next year she will race with KTM. However, Andrea Migno had a good career, participating in over 160 Grands Prix in about 10 years. His list includes 12 podiums, 2 victories and 4 pole positions. Even more did Niccolò Antonelli, now involved in World Supersport with Ducati. From 2012 to 2022 he participated in 182 GPs, winning 4 victories. Now he is aiming for a relaunch in the Superbike paddock following in the footsteps of his friend Nicolò Bulega.
The only one of the kids in the photo who didn’t manage to break through was Alessio Cappella. Born in Rimini to a Rimini father and a Nigerian mother, as a child he was considered a true phenomenon. After his successes in minibikes, he participated in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, won the Moto3 European Championship and took part in some CIV races but at that point his career was interrupted. “I stopped exclusively for budget reasons but I am very happy with my past and what I did on motorbikes – he said in a previous interview – Valentino Rossi also congratulated me at Assen.”
Photo by Andrea Migno
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