A great year for Italy at the Centenary TT – MV Agusta returns in the Superstock
Race in the capable hands of Martin Finnegan….and there is possibly more good news.
A meeting in the spring will decide if a brand new Benelli Tornado three cylinder machine
will start in the Senior TT with Stefano Bonetti aboard.

Last year the Italian contingent was not lucky as the only representative was newcomer
Roberto Antonellini, who did not have an easy acquaintance with the Mountain
Course. After a lot of commitment, he came very close to the qualification time before a
seized engine forced him to abandon the cause. Club members will remember that Bonetti
crashed during the NW 200 Superstock Race whilst in 9th position, injuring his thumb and
newcomer, Angelo Conti was injured after a crash during an Italian Championship round at
Misano. Both missed the ’06 TT, but will be there for the centenary meeting.

Thirty-one year old, multi-hill climb champion, Bonetti from Bergamo will contest
all solo races – a Suzuki GSXR 1000 K6 for the Superbike and Superstock classes, a new
Honda CBR 600 RK7 for the Junior and, hopefully, the Benelli for the Senior. A winner in hill
climb classes from 125cc to the Open category, the likeable Italian has equipped himself
well in his two visits to the IoM with a best finish of 15th the 2005 Superstock on a Suzuki
at an average speed of 116.55mph.

Angelo Conti, 42, from Dongo, near Lake Como began in motocross winning his
national 125cc Championship of 1988. Turning to the roads in 1992, winning the European
Supersport Champinship some five years later on a Ducati 748R proved his ability. The
following year he won the Italian Supersport Championship and was 16th in the World
Championship after competing in only two races on a Suzuki GSXR600. Complimenting
these achievements are four national titles in three years embracing the Honda Hornet,
Honda CBR600 and Mobil 1 Trophy Championships. At the TT, Angelo will race a Honda
CBR600 RR in the Junior and senior events.
As well as assisting Stefano, Angelo and their respective teams coordinate their TT
efforts, our Italian representative Pier Ortalda is busy helping other Italians in their desire
to compete around the Mountain Course. It is quite possible that four of his compatriots
will enter this year’s MGP.

Roberto Airoldi, Danny Garbin, Fausto Duci and the 2004 winner of the FIM Women’s
Championship on a Yamaha YZF R1, Simona Zaccardi all want to compete in the TT,
but realise the best way to do so is by the MGP route.
Airoldi, 36, hales form the same town – Galliate – as Achille Varzi, the first Italian
rider to finish a TT Race. He’s had excellent results in hill climbs, having secured runner-up
positions in both the 125cc and Singles national championships. He has also 10th and
19th positions in the European Singles Championships to his credit as well as a second
place in the national championships for the same class. The European and Italian Singles
Championships are on the agenda again for 2007 as well as an entry in the Manx Newcomers on a Kawasaki ZXR 400.

Danny Garbin, 26, a surveyor from Bressanone made his racing debut in the 2002
125cc Sport Production Championship, moving to the Ducati Challenge in 2005, achieving
several podiums and the ‘Best Rookie Award’, with third overall in the Open 2 Valve
category. Last year he made his debut in the top Italian championship – the Campionato
Italiano Velocita; taking part in the Supersport 600 class, he unfortunately crashed in the
official practice for the first race, the injuries sustained put him out of the sport for the
remainder of the season. Danny’s intention is to compete in this class again in 2007, along with his MGP debut

Fausto Duci, a 26 year old truck driver from Gorno, near Bergamo, is the current
Hill Climb Open Champion in the Open Class on his Suzuki GSXR 1000, never missing the
podium in the entire season, with many outright records to his credit. Amazingly, last year
was his first in these championships. Fausto has competed at every Italian short circuit
and many abroad; a more than competent rider he intends to mix the two types of racing
again this year, defending his title in the process as well as making his NW200 and MGP
debuts.

Finally, an MGP entry which is bound to raise a good deal of interest – Simona Zaccardi. An ambitious racer, the 32 year old waitress from Rome intends to make her
Manx debut in Newcomers A with her Honda CBR 6000 and a Ducati 999 in the Senior.
Making her race debut in 2003 she soon rose through the ranks to become the FIM Women’s Champion the following year. A third position in the same competition of 2006, along with a similar place in the UEM European Championship, but it was the fact that she took the 2005 National Ducati Championship, open to both men and women, which has really put Simona on the road racing map in her own country. The IoM beckons; at the time of
writing she is planning to benefit from the Hailwood Foundation preparation weekend in
the spring, as are Bonetti and Conti.

Pier Ortalda is in for a busy summer as he intends being at both the TT and MGP,
as well as helping his compatriots in their preparations to fulfil their racing ambitions.
Thanks go to Pier for providing the information for this article.