At a time when some riders have preferred to stay in their “comfort zone” refusing the possibility of moving to the Superbike world championship, there are those who instead accept the challenges and don’t miss the opportunity to compete with the best in the world. It is the case of Luca Vitaliborn in Rimini in 1992 and son of art, as his father Maurizio raced in the 125 and 250 world championships. After leaving football, Luca started in the Aprilia Trophy and then moved to the minimum displacement two-stroke until 2010, when he switched to the four-stroke racing in the European Superstock, first 600 and then 1000. Since 2017 he has been one of the protagonists of the Italian Superbike Speed Championshipand last year with the Honda of the Scuderia Improve in Florence he obtained the third final positionwith one victory and 5 podiums.
When did you know you would race in the World Superbike round at Misano?
On Tuesday evening Tommaso Noccioli, crew chief of Team Orelac Racing Movisio, sent me a message. When I called him he offered to race at Misano with his team. I was very pleased with his proposal, but I didn’t accept it right away. I’ve thought about it for a while.
How come?
Obviously the idea appealed to me, but I know that the level in Superbike is very high and so I thought I might find myself uncomfortable, since I don’t know the team and the bike, and that in these conditions I probably wouldn’t even be able to enjoy myself .
But then you changed your mind.
I accepted when I understood that it would still be interesting to compare myself with the best riders in the world of derivatives, and that I could have an experience that I don’t know when it will happen again.
And then what do you have to lose?
Exact. I just want to have fun. To do this, I know I have to give my all, but it will still be great to race alongside champions from whom you can only learn. The team doesn’t put any pressure on me and I’m therefore in the ideal condition to have a great experience and enjoy this weekend.
Goals?
The dream would be to score points, but I know it will be very difficult. More than the position, I’ll look at the stopwatch, and I’d like to lap in 1’34. My race in the race will be with the other Kawasaki privateers.
How was your start to the CIV season?
I think that the level of the CIV, as regards the first 5 or 6, is very high. I started well. At Misano I fought for the podium in Race 1 and finished second in Race 2. At Mugello on Saturday I think I found a bad tire, while on Sunday I finished fourth. I’m third in the championship and therefore I’m quite satisfied.
