The rumor has been circulating in the paddock since Misano, and this seems to be confirmed today with the information provided by GPone; The Moto3 team of the Italian Motorcycling Federation (FMI) will cease to exist at the end of the season, thus putting an end to an episodic presence in Grands Prix which dates back to 1985.
And the adventure was beautiful, since in its first year, the Italian team was World Champion in 125cc with the young Fausto Gresini on his Garelli. The following year, it was the turn of a certain Luca Cadalora to bring the title to the federal structure, still on Garelli. The aim of the Italian team was to discover young transalpine talents and this was therefore carried out until the 90s.
Faced with a certain form of Spanish hegemony, the Italian Federation decided to reinvest in Grands Prix in 2011. Its effort was however consolidated, then in a certain way vampirized, by the structure put in place by Valentino Rossi himself, the VR46 Riders Academy, more publicized and with a larger network.
Therefore, Romano Fenati, Niccolo Antonelli, Francesco Bagnaia, Andrea Locatelli and Andrea Tonucci were able to benefit from the federal structure before taking off, just like today, Stefano Valtulini and Lorenzo Petrarca do it on their Mahindra.
However, with the presence of the team Sky VR46 et the scheduled arrival of Marco Simoncelli's dad's structure, SIC58 Squadra Corsica, the financial effort made by the Italian Federation is no longer really justified and the Team Italia will not be renewed for 2017.
Charles Pernat told us that the budget of the Italian Moto3 structure amounted to 1 million euros per year.
Alfredo Mastropasqua: “On the occasion of the centenary of the Federation, it decided to redo an Italian team project. We had started the rescue plan two years earlier in the Italian Championship (CIV) and the situation in the World Championship was disastrous because we were missing drivers in the Italian teams. We believe that there is no longer a need for the FMI to have its own team in the Motorcycle World Championship. Our task is complete because recent years have seen several professional structures investing in Italian youth. I'm thinking of the VR46, the Gresini and Ongetta teams, and 2017 will also see the debut of Paolo Simoncelli's team. In 2011 there were only two Italian riders in the 125cc category, and they are now almost a third on the Moto3 grid, meaning the FIM has performed well in the junior categories, and continues to do so. From next year, our structure will focus on supporting drivers in the CIV as well as in the CEV which has become a junior world championship that we are watching with interest. »
