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Four MotoGP riders have the distinction of being the only Italian champions in their respective categories in which they won. That is what I am.
Scrolling through all the seasons and all the categories (still existing and not) of the MotoGP World Championship, Italy has a very long list of world champion riders, the main manufacturers … very high flag. But did you know that there are also Italians who have turned out to be our only winning colors in a certain category? We have found four: one of a class that has now disappeared, while the other three are household names today. A focus on these guys.
EUGENIO LAZZARINI
In order of time, it is inevitable to start with him. Born in Urbino, class of 1945, he has undoubtedly become the protagonist of a long and rewarding career. The world debut took place in 1969, a debut for both him and Morbidelli, who drove in his first 50cc year. At the same time, he will also compete in his only 250cc year (with Benelli), but the greatest satisfactions will undoubtedly come in the then junior class and in 125cc. It is precisely in this last category that he wins his first world title, one of our many standard bearers, but the particularity concerns the 50cc class. Eugenio Lazzarini in fact, he is the only Italian who triumphs among the “mosquitoes”, twice: in 1979 with Kreidler, who fired him at the end of the year. In 1980 he doubles with Iprem, a motorcycle built by his friend and rider Guido Mancini, obtaining his last world crown. Remember, we are talking about a category that entered the 1962 World Cup and disappeared at the end of 1983.
VALENTINO ROSSI
We are talking about nothing less than one of the most successful drivers in history, honors in hand. Forty-one years in this 2020, Valentino rossi he made his world championship debut in 1995 in the then 125cc, achieving respectable results. We have had 414 races, 115 won with a total of 235 world podiums that have earned him 9 world titles so far between 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP. To this we add 6313 points in total, 65 pole positions and 96 fastest laps in the race. He is not a rider that we know today, given his very long and fruitful career that still exists, but we include him in this list for a very specific reason. Since 2002, or since the premier class became MotoGP, he remains the only Italian rider capable of winning the world championship. Not just once. Four of them arrive consecutively from 2002 to 2005, the first two with the Honda RC 211 V and the others with the Yamaha YZR M1. The last two crowns arrive in the 2008-2009 biennium, always with the house of the three tuning forks.
LORENZO DALLA PORTA
Then we went to the lower category of the World Championship, which since 2012 has become Moto3. A class that so far has experienced nine seasons in total, five of them closed with the world drivers title in the hands of a Spanish standard-bearer. But Italy also had its moment of glory with only one champion: let’s talk about Lorenzo Dalla Porta, born in 1997 from Montemurlo, who in 2019 carried the Italian flag to the top of the world. Champion CIV 125 in 2012 and CEV Moto3 in 2016, we find him in the World Championship full time since 2017 after two ‘half seasons’ in 2015 and 2016 as a substitute for other riders. As mentioned, the explosion comes in 2019 with four victories and another seven podiums that allow him to secure the world crown. This year has had a difficult first year in Moto2, but the goal will undoubtedly be to take important steps forward in 2021.
MATTEO FERRARI
We reached the youngest of the current classes, the electric MotoE, which has only been on the record for two seasons. This year’s champion is Spaniard Jordi Torres, but the inaugural season ended in the hands of an Italian rider: we mean Matteo ferrari. Born in Rimini in 1997, with a wealth of experience given the various championships in which he has competed, full time or only for a few races. Moto3 World Championship, Superstock 1000, World Championship and CIV Superbike, CEV Moto2… In 2019 he is among the great protagonists of the first season of MotoE, riding an Energica Ego Corsa very different from the ‘classic’ motorcycles. But he manages to be the best in the category: with two victories, another podium and constant top 5 spots, he secures his first electric title. In this 2020 it was not repeated, finishing second in the championship with two victories, two more podiums, a fifth place and two zeros. In 2021 he will always restart with Gresini Racing, ready to regain the crown.