Italy's Marco Belli on Leading the Italian Championship and Riding with Fast Freddie
- 02.06.2011
For Belli the answer came in Zen-like form, by not being as overwhelmingly concerned with results, he has allowed himself to ride more freely on the track, and as he says "I can totally express myself now. So I don't look too far ahead, and instead I stay more focused on one race at a time." Last year Belli ended the season on a high-note by also winning the 2010 Mefo Flat-Track Cup, and then picking up where he left off, Belli started off 2011 by finding the checkered flag at the super fast Hippodrome in Treviso, Italy. Making that event even more special was Belli riding laps with childhood idol "Fast" Freddie Spencer.
Says Belli, "Riding laps with Freddie was better than winning, it is like a tattoo in my heart, believe me! Fast Freddie was a poster in my room when I was young. He was a hero. And now I had the opportunity to spend time with him on the track, as well as off the track along with my family. It was absolutely a superb experience. It was a dream come true sliding alongside him on the track. The entire time I was laughing under my helmet. Graziano Rossi was also riding with us so the emotion for me was very high. And Freddie is still really fast." Belli became involved with K&N after meeting Marcel Blom a couple of years ago at the 2009 Eicma Milano Motorcycle Show. At that time Belli was racing short track in England and had already won three championships. He was also involved with the Italian Federation promoting racing in Italy at that time. Explains Belli, "Marcel immediately gave me great support and I've always been a huge fan of K&N products."
Currently Belli is preparing for his third run at the mystical Pikes Peak in Colorado this June 26. In his first race up the mountain in 2008 Belli finished second in the 750 cc class riding a bored-out Supermoto KTM. The following year he rode another KTM, a standard version of the 690 Supermoto, and he finished third. This year Belli will ride a new bike. "Last year I was involved with developing a new motorcycle project named "Zaeta," it's the first ever street legal flat-track bike," Belli says. "I was asked to contribute my experience in this motorcycle and it was great fun, mostly because I was able to collaborate with Graziano Rossi, Valentino's father. The Zaeta is a proper flat-track bike, its very light and very powerful, but also really short and very aggressive. So I'm going try and adapt it to the conditions of this particular race. I'll be racing a street version and I will try to beat my personal record which is about 12 minutes." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
