it’s a big job, a big adventure, good results are possible...”
The year before our time with Ducati we had many discussions with Giovanni Castiglioni and MV. One problem was money, but after studying the F4 we realised it was not possible to be competitive at that time; the engine was not good. With the supersport F3 it was possible to win, so I suggested supersport and then WSB in 2015. But it was not possible. Then Ducati called, who we went with in the end. The problem with Ducati was 99 per cent of their concentration was on MotoGP. But we could do the job. Then after one month the boss changed at Ducati and promised a bigger percentage. By the end of the year it was stressful and we were disillusioned with things, so, ciao ciao, bye bye! It was very difficult as Ducati was our first race bike back in 1996. So then Team Alstare has no bike. At the Milan show we discussed racing with BMW, but it was very expensive and they would give no help. With Aprilia it was the same. The first meeting with the new owners of Bimota was very good, very enthusiastic, the problem was homologation. It was not possible for them to build enough bikes, so I lobbied the federation and they reduced the number to make it possible. But when we started we had no bike, no nothing – this was January. In two months our guys worked 24 hours a day to get our bikes ready. Our guys have a very impressive mentality. Alstare isn’t a normal team, they are crazy and I am the chief crazy! The bike is OK and the chassis is very good, it doesn’t have many problems in all conditions and the engine is perfect, very fast and solid. Our engines are standard, we have no contact with BMW apart from supplying the standard engines. Our first engine came from a bike we actually bought ourselves. The issue was the BMW’s electronic systems are very complicated, we do not have the same ability as the BMW team Leon Camier rides for to adjust the bike per track. We must start from scratch. Being with Bimota, instead of someone like Suzuki, is very different. The job is not the same as we do all the development, the creation, the publicity. It is a big job, a big adventure and it is possible to get a big result. Next year we have a big project, two official riders in WSB and also two in BSB. I do not know if it will be Alstare in BSB or a British team yet, but my intention is to win BSB as it is the best series after WSB. England is traditionally a racing nation, and from there you have Australia and South Africa, and so on, which look at BSB and like its direction. They have a very good promoter. We have a British rider in Christian Iddon, and next year we may wildcard in BSB also with him. This year he learns, next year is very important for him because we will be competitive by then. We may be with Bimota for the next five years, we are working together in the entire business and share the passion also. All of the Bimota race bikes and support will come from Alstare. Next year we will produce our official bikes, and a minimum of ten EVO spec’ machines. Price will depend on the team, roughly it will be 70,000 Euros for the maximum specification. We will also produce Moto2 bikes, like that currently raced in the Spanish series. It must be a good business, last year we spent around 4m Euros running with Ducati, this year is less than half that, but the bigger the company the more is spent. With BMW’s factory WSB budget for one year, I could run a team for five, and I could have won with that budget!