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Press the play button, after nine months of work, and wait another three for the most beautiful roar. That of the Superbike World Championship at the Cremona Circuit in San Martino del Lago, scheduled for September 20 to 22 but officially presented Thursday morning at the Belvedere Berlusconi of Palazzo Lombardia.
The satisfaction of the CEO Alessandro Canevarolo it is palpable, for a run-up that continues “because at the racetrack we race and then we too will race with the works”. The Cremona Circuit named after Angel Bergamontiremembered during the conference for his duels with James Augustin, took center stage in Milan: as if to say the suburbs, the province, which this time makes itself beautiful in the beating heart of the Region. As was remembered in the talk show moderated by Max StormsSky’s voice for Superbike, the Cremona Circuit is the track where the most motorbikes run annually and in Europe.
It has been said that it is useless and unfair to make comparisons with Monza: but Cremona inherits from Monza (eleven years after the last time) the possibility of representing Lombardy in the World Cup for five years. “Monza is a temple – said Canevarolo – and no one wants to steal the legacy. We simply want to grow, taking inspiration from them. In a few years we will see where we have arrived.”
A legacy also born from onerous and important works, entrusted to Dromo, the non plus ultra of the category, entrusted to Jarno Zaffellidesigner of the circuit, with the improvements that came year after year, up to the final surge linked precisely to Superbike. “We have always taken into account two details: the safety and enjoyment of the riders. Judging by what they think, we hit the mark. And then working in Cremona for us used to traveling the world, it was like playing at home because our headquarters is an hour’s drive from the San Martino del Lago circuit”.
And if Andrea Iannone on Ducati was the testimonial rider of the event, representatives of Dorna, which in fact controls Superbike, and Yamaha, which boasts 55% of the bikes on the track, could not be missing. Yes, because the difference between Moto Gp and Superbike is in the fact that the latter uses production bikes, which can therefore be purchased and used on the road as well. “The idea – he said Andrea Dosoli of the Yamaha Team – was in fact to race on Sunday and sell on Monday. It’s a joke, but it encapsulates the sense of initiative and the strength of Superbike, which has almost all its main companies and motor manufacturers in Lombardy. That’s why it was important to return home, eleven years after Monza”.
The institutional greeting came first and foremost from the governor of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontanawho posed on a Yamaha, and from Lara MagoniUndersecretary for Sport for the Region. The regional councilors of Cremona were present Marcello Ventura e Matteo Piloni and, for the Province of Cremona, the president Paolo Mirko Signoroni.
It should be noted, as Canevarolo did, that the Circuit will grow in these five years, hoping, however, for the first year, the great enthusiasm of the public for a Circuit that, in the stands, will be set up like a large open-air theater. “At the beginning, that is in 2012, we were greeted with a bit of distrust, like those who make a mess – explained Canevarolo – but I understand it and I put myself in the shoes of the residents too. However, over time they began to appreciate us: they understood that we do things seriously and that this circuit creates an extraordinary induced effect and jobs for the Casalasco area”.
Canevarolo is not worried about the hospitality, which in Cremona is not that of a large tourist city or of large cities accustomed to hosting sporting events of this kind (for the province of Cremona it is certainly the most important ever, with 100 thousand people expected over the weekend). “If we don’t get involved, we won’t grow. In any case, we have three access routes to the circuit, the hospitality facilities are growing and I like to think that the fact of being located in the middle of so many different cities can be a help and not an obstacle. We are also making great strides in terms of safety, taking into account that amateurs often compete here, who perhaps don’t know how to fall. We have also invested a lot in technology, because technology is safety”.
“The Cremona Circuit project – he remarked Stephen Pacchioli of Dorna – it immediately seemed serious to us, because it involves investments, because it was thought over several years, because we saw so much passion, the same as in the world of Superbike. We are convinced, after having spoken several times with Canevarolo, that the territory will respond”.
Iannone praised the climate created in Superbike (he restarted from here after a four-year break and the previous part of his career spent in Moto GP) and also the San Martino del Lago circuit: “It seems slow, but you travel fast and it’s a lot of fun. It is a particular circuit, different from the others, with personality. Like all things, you can always improve, but there is a Safety Commission, of which we riders are also part, which is made specifically for this.”
Finally, best wishes for good work and great satisfaction were expressed by Ivan Bidorinipresident of the Federmoto regional committee, Lorenzo MauriMotocorsa Ducati team manager, e Gregorio Lavillaformer SBK rider, executive director of Dorna SBK.
Giovanni Gardani (video Marco Zambelli)
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