Paolo’s Blog

TEST MOTOE e VALENCIA CEV 25/11/2018

Welcome MotoE!
At the beginning I wasn’t so sure about it but now I am: I just needed few lapses to learn and appreciate their sound, which I never heard before because of the engine. You start appreciating the sound of the knees’ sliders on the curb, the swish of the air when a bike passes by. Yes, it is completely a different world, where electricians are needed more than mechanics. It is a new thing but it leaves you thrilled.
Weird first test in Jerez, Casadei was there just to assist as a spectator as doctors said after the hip operation, but Luca Vitali, the substitute, crashed braking a finger and his collarbone. Maybe he was captured by the easiness of this new bike, so easy to drive, and he did a mistake that caused him two fractures. I could have ride the bike myself but luckily Mattia was feeling good so he just got on his bike riding unexpectedly fast, closing with the 4th lap time.
One good thing of this test was that we all were in the same room, all together with no walls in between bikes, as they used to do years ago. Maybe this feeling was created thanks to the presence of Gibernau, De Angelis, De Puniet… great riders of few years ago. Anyway we have a new record: the first crash of MotoE, for our squad which name will be ONGETTA SIC58 SQUADRA CORSE.

On Saturday I moved back to Valencia for the last round of CEV and it has been a tough weekend. We where all sick and we use to say in Romagna that sometimes the fortune wheel just stops. Montella, after good practices, crashed in both the races while battling in the leading group. Ieraci did two races trying to catch up the first group starting from P20: in the first manche he was battling for the 4/5th position but he finished 14th for a mistake on the penultimate turn; the second round was almost a replay: top10, all the riders where battling why the red flag appeared ending the game.
The red flag ruined also Bertelle’s race: starting from the 15th position he caught the fist riders and while in P3 at two laps to the end the flag appeared; they started again for a 5 lapses race, which he closed in 11th position due to a mistake. That’s a peaty. Anyway Bertelle remains a smart rider, always focused and fast.
Patacca took this weekend more as a training: he still needs time to recover but he closed anyway the championship in P7 after missing 4/5 races.
I was expecting something more from Falzone: this winter he needs to improve on braking and to work on how to be more aggressive in the race.

This is how another difficult year ends, no podium this weekend but four times on the highest step of the podium during the season.
Moto3 didn’t go as I expected but I hope I’ll be able to prepare both Patacca and Bertelle for the world championship next year.
We’ll continue with ETC with three riders, two Italians and one Spanish and in Moto3 with other three riders (one is Japanese)… if I’ll find enough money!
…TO BE CONTINUED.