The news, official today, is the result of a situation which has deteriorated for several weeks between the management of Makar Yurchenko and Alain Bronec, the owner of the French team CIP-Green Power.
The latter, tired of being led for a ride, therefore made the decision to stop his collaboration with the Russian-Kazakh pilot Makar Yurchenko and start a new adventure with the promising Italian Stefano Nepa.
It's a shame for Makar Yurchenko, who had nothing to do with this affair and was not unworthy on the handlebars of his KTM, but it's a chance for the man who has just won the last 2 rounds of the Italian CIV Moto3 championship. , after making a wild card during the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
16 years old, Stefano Nepa was born on November 21, 2001 in Giulianova, in the Italian province of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region. He started motorcycle racing at the age of 8. In 2011, he won the title of vice-champion of the Europeo Minimoto Junior A, in Italy. In 2012 and 2013, he ranked 5th and 4th respectively in the Italian MiniGP 50cc. In 2014, he entered the PréMoto3 category of the Italian Speed Championship (CIV). From his first participation, he won the title and impressed with the consistency of his results. He thus confirmed his potential and became one of the most promising riders supported by the Italian Motorcycling Federation. The following year, he put his title back on the line and finished 2nd in the CIV. In 2016, he entered the Moto3 category of the Italian championship where he ranked 7th for his first year; he also took part in 4 races of the FIM CEV Repsol Junior Moto3 World Championship and notably finished 10th in Valencia. In 2017 and 2018, he participated in the entire Junior Moto3 World Championship and the CIV Moto3, of which he had just won the two rounds of Imola where he set the track record after suffering a bad injury during the first race of the FIM CEV Moto3 championship in Estoril on March 25.
He therefore remains on a double victory at Imola last weekend, riding his KTM bearing the number 81 and is currently in 2nd place in the Italian championship, 10 points behind Kevin Zannoni.
Alain Bronec, team owner: “Stefano is a young hopeful, in whom the Italian Motorcycling Federation believes as much as I do. He currently rides a KTM, which should make it easier for him to adapt to our team, even if his arrival in Grands Prix will require a lot of work. Our goal is for him to progress through the races and be in the top 10 by the end of the season. His arrival is part of a sustainable project, since we already hope to be able to keep him in our team for the 2019 season."
Stefano Nepa #81: “This is an incredible time for me. After the good results obtained at the CEV in Barcelona and at the CIV in Imola, I am very happy that the CIP –Green Power team is giving me this opportunity. It won't be easy because the Moto3 category is very competitive and I will have to discover almost all the circuits, but I will do my best to progress. I sincerely thank my new team, as well as the Italian Federation, my family and my sponsors who help me achieve my goals. »
