Moto3’s Di Giannantonio: "Troy Bayliss is everything for me"
The Italian teenager opens up on his admiration for the Australian WorldSBK legend for motogp.com
It will be ten years this November since Troy Bayliss won his last MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship and retired from active competition, but his legacy is still felt strongly throughout the motorcycling world.
Many riders past and present grew up watching the Australian icon tear up tracks around the globe, not just in WorldSBK but also MotoGP™. One man in that paddock who spent his early years adoring Bayliss is current Moto3™ rider Fabio Di Giannantonio. In an interview with motogp.com, the teenage sensation opens up on his fandom of the dominant Ducati legend and meeting Bayliss for the first time at that final Portimao showdown:
Asked about who his example to follow as a rider is: "Troy Bayliss. For me he is everything. When I was a child, I watched Superbike videos on VHS and Troy on the Ducati number 21 excited me so much. Then I met him and he is a great person. I met him in his last Ducati race at Portimão in 2008. At the end of the Superpole I went into his box and he got me on his bike, it was great. I was a child. I wear my number 21 in his honour. In that Round I also brought a picture of me, when I was racing on minibikes and I already wore number 21 because he was my idol. On the photo was written, "Don’t worry Troy, I’ll carry on taking care of number 21".”
Click here for the full interview in Italian with Di Giannantonio, second in the Moto3™ championship, in which he discusses the season so far. And catch Bayliss’ legendary final race in Algarve above, free for registered users.
