Alex Salvini ready to debut in the USA

The Honda Zanardo rider will take part to the Ironman GNCC with JCR Honda

The 2014 season is not finished yet for the Italian Enduro Champion Alex Salvini. Strong of the second position in the World Enduro Championship class E2 and the Italian Championship, conquered three times in a row, the Honda Zanardo rider is ready to make his debut in the USA.

Salvini will take part to the last round of the GNCC (Grand National Cross Country) on the 25th and 26th of October at Ironman – Crawfordsville (IN). The Ironman GNCC is one of the most popular races on the circuit and there is a lot of expectations for the event.

DEBUT: “it’s the first time ever that I race in the USA and I’m very excited for this new adventure. Considered the injuries I have had already in the pre-season, I’m happy with the second position in the Enduro World Championship and to have conquered the Italian crown for the third year in a row”, comments Alex Salvini, who will race the Ironman GNCC with JCR Honda. “Now that the season is over I can discover the Enduro world in the USA without any pressure. I’m curious to understand the level of the US series. The format is very different from what we are used to, with 3 hour long races and a start Motocross style. I’m confident as I can count on the experience and the professionalism of Johnny Campbell and his team. I’d like to thank my team Honda Zanardo, Honda Europe, Honda USA and of course Johnny Campbell for this extraordinary occasion”.

RIVALS “For me it will be a great adventure. I have no pressure and I’m heading to the USA to understand a different reality. I will meet great riders. I know someone of them from the ISDE Six Days, such as the Australian Daniel Milner and Josh Strang”.

DESTINATION USA: “Before the race I will be at the bike show in Orlando, Florida for some promotional events with the team. Then I will head to Tennessee for some days of testing. After the Ironman GNCC I look forward to some holidays in Baja California”.

The World Championship season according to Alex Salvini

E2 World Vice Champion and Italian Enduro Champion, Salvini analyses his season and gives the marks to the 4 protagonists of the E2 World Championship class

Enduro Italian Champion 2014, both in the overall and in the E2 class of the Assoluti d’Italia, a title conquered on Saturday 27th of September at Edolo (Brescia), with one round in advance, Alex Salvini analyses his 2014 world championship season.

With 2 victories and a total of 11 podium finishes out of 14 rounds. Alex was among the protagonists of a demanding season that crowned him E2 World Vice Champion.

“The expectations were a bit different”, comments the Honda Zanardo rider, “as 2013 World Champion, there was more pressure, but I was very motivated to try to repeat myself. The first big issue arrived 22 days before the opening round of the season as I underwent an operation to fix an injury to the left thumb occurred during the first race of the Assoluti d’Italia”.

From this moment the pain becomes his first rival. “It’s frustrating to race when you are injured as you take the start trying to survive instead of fighting for the victory. During the Spanish GP I had not enough strength in the hand. In Portugal, the week after, I fought hard conquering the podium, determined to keep open the fight for the title. To return strong as I was in 2013, I had to wait for the Greek round”. Third on Saturday, Alex crashed when he was dominating the class and the overall standing at Kalampaka. “I was pushing hard and I was close to the victory when I crashed badly. In the incident I broke my right collarbone, spoiling the second part of the season”.

Thinking back to this 3rd round, Alex admitted that he could have managed the race in a better way. So in Finland he accepts to finish 2nd, avoiding to take additional risks, when he sees Meo crashing out. Double podiums also in Sweden and finally the double victory in Italy. “Lumezzane welcomed me with an incredible support and it was great to win in front of the home crowd”.

THE SEASON “It was a success to finish second in the World Championship despite the injuries”. But what is the overall evaluation? For one time, the Italian rider becomes a professor and gives the marks to the 4 protagonists of the E2 class.

THE MARKS (5=insufficient, 6= sufficient, 10=optimum)
Alex Salvini: 7, it’s the average mark considering Riding: 7, Season Management: 5 (too many mistakes), Determination: 9.

Pela Renet: 9 Riding: 8 Season Management: 10 Determination: 7 “Maybe he was not the strongest guy on track, but for sure he was the most consistent”.

Johnny Aubert: 8 Riding: 9 Season Management: 6 Determination: 6 “He was very strong in terms of riding, but maybe he could have done a bit more”.

Antoine Meo: 7 Riding: 8 Season Management: 5 Determination: 8 “He was very fast but not always consistent, Antoine made some mistakes that complicated his season”.

From the start the season became an uphill struggle in which the first opponent became pain. "When you have an injury that prevents you from pushing as you wou

Alex Salvini discharged from hospital after successful collarbone operation 16th May 2014 

After the incident in the Grand Prix of Greece, Alex Salvini underwent on Tuesday a surgery to fix the fracture at his right collarbone with a plate and 8 screws. He was operated at Villa Serena in Forli by Professor Veronesi and the supervision of Professor Lorena Sangiorni.

The 2013 E2 World Champion is confident to be back on board of his Honda for the next race, the Assoluti d’Italia that will take place in Fabriano on the 24th and 25th of May.

Alex Salvini: “It was a pity because I was doing well and I was leading with 2 seconds ahead of Meo, when at the last Cross Test I made a mistake and crashed. According to the doctors I will be able to make it for Fabriano and also for the Grand Prix of Finland. I want to thank the medical staff, my team, my sponsors and all the fans that have supported me”.

Alex Salvini plays his part in the launch the new FIM Environmental Code

2014 FIM Environmental ambassador for the off road world, Alex Salvini is proud to be part of the FIM Environmental campaign for the coming season.

Alex Salvini: “Last November I was chosen by the FIM as sixth Ambassador to promote sustainability in Enduro and Rallies. I joined the team already composed by Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Randy De Puniet, Laia Sanz and Takahisa Fujinami. As you can see in the video that launches the new FIM Environmental Code, the atmosphere was great and it’s a great honour for me to give my contribution to the FIM environmental campaign and to share positive messages among the young people and the fans of our sport. So I invite you to watch the video and to download the new FIM Environmental Code”.

Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNB6VyC4SU8 Download the FIM Environmental Code

“I’m ready for the 2014 challenge”

Interview with Alex Salvini

“Here we are, the 2014 season has just started but without a real break! December was packed with commitments, nice commitments, starting with the FIM Gala in Montecarlo and then the Prize giving ceremonies of Caschi D’Oro and Assoluti d’Italia. I just had one week holidays with my girlfriend Michela at the Canaria Island and then I was back to work ”, comments Alex Salvini, who tackles the coming season to defend the world title in the E2 Enduro class, a title that Italy was missing from 13 longs years.

WORLD CHAMPION
“The feeling of having met this important target, becoming World Champion, will always accompany me, but with the new season we all start from zero. I’m not afraid of the pressure, last year I was the first one to put pressure on me, because I wanted to win and this year because I want to repeat myself, so this feeling gives me an extra motivation to work hard and improve every single aspect of my preparation”.

Alex is aware that a winning season is the result of a team work and he can count on the team run by Franco Mayr and Alessandro Tramelli with the support of Honda. But it’s also something that you achieve day after day and for this reason Alex has improved all single aspects of his training in order to be ready for the coming season that will start at the beginning of March with the Assoluti and the 5th of April with the first round of the World Championship in Spain.

CHECK UP
The coming season started mid December in London with a complete check up, when he took part in an Assessment Day at the English Institute of Sport with other Honda riders from various disciplines, such as Superbike, Supersport, Motocross, TT, Endurance and Enduro.

“Can you imagine 12 riders – who have 8 world championship titles between them – together in the same gym? Honda Europe invited me to take part in a series of physio and isometric testing, strength and conditioning assessments and a fitness analysis. We were divided into three groups and I was with Max Nagl, Leon Haslam, Conor Cummins and the TT legend John McGuinness. It was very interesting and great fun. According to the test, I was one of the strongest regarding the strength assessments especially for the test related to the legs while I need to improve the upper body. I have learned a lot and it will be interesting to see how we will progress during the season”.

TRAINING
“After almost one month without training, it was hard to start in January with a new programme and a new coach, David Morelli. Last year I trained alone but this year I want to make a step forward, training with the support of a professional trainer”.

BIKE
Besides the gym, Alex trained a lot with his Honda machine. In January he went with the team to test in Sardinia and now he is in Chile for a ten-day training session followed by the participation to an international race, the sixth “Copa ESEmar” at Las Palmas de Ritoque (Quintero) on February 16th .

“It’s a great opportunity to train in Chile where the team has an office. We can take fully advantage of the good weather and also the terrain is similar to what we will find in Spain and Portugal, the first rounds of the championship. We will test and I will take part in a race that sees almost 300 riders from Chile, South America and Europe competing. It will be great fun!”.

EXPECTATIONS
“It’s soon to speak about the season but it’s sure that with Antonie Meo joining the E2, the level will be even higher. I’m really for the challenge and I’m training to face this new challenge among the protagonists”.