Luca Cadalora, 52 years old, triple World Champion in 125cc (on Garelli in 1986) and 250cc (on Honda in 1991 and 1992), wore the official black and yellow colors of the VR46 staff for the first time in Valentino Rossi's box on the first day of testing at Phillip Island.
The latter had provided some details to the Sky channel on the presence and longevity of this experience: “That could be an interesting thing. We'll see. We haven't made a decision yet. I like it a lot, firstly because he is a big motorcycle enthusiast, but also because he is a very technical rider. So why not? Maybe he could help me, I don't know. He came for this test, and for the future, we'll see, nothing is decided. We're trying to see if he can give me any advice. We haven’t made a program for the future, but if we do, I’ll tell you.”
Luca Cadalora, who often rides with Valentino Rossi, as was the case last month during the “100 km dei Campioni” but especially during the runs at Misano with the R1 last year, was therefore put to the test in Australia.
Asked during the pre-event press conference about the renewal of this first experience in MotoGP, Valentino Rossi has confirmed his presence at his side throughout the 2016 season: “Yes, Luca will also work with me during this season. We talked together and gave it a try during testing. It's always interesting to have a former driver like Luca, with great experience and good judgment from the sidelines. During testing we found some interesting things, so we will continue together for the season.”
Valentino Rossi did not hesitate to surprise everyone, including the person concerned, by replacing Jeremy Burgess with Silvano Galbusera at the end of 2013.
Today, Luca Cadalora therefore joins the “former pilot advisors” who are already Wilco Zeelenberg for Jorge Lorenzo, Randy Mamola for Bradley Smith, or even officially Alberto Puig for Jack Miller (since the separation with Dani Pedrosa is complete).
Luca Cadalora's role will therefore be to observe the Doctor and his competitors from the side of the track in order to help the latter further progress in his driving style to make the most of his M1. A new challenge to the nine-time World Champion who demonstrates, once again, his determination!
As a reminder, Luca Cadalora predicted the failure of Valentino Rossi at Ducati, and suggested, at the time, to take Andrea Iannone...
Photo credit: Yamaha
