Di.Di. World Bridgestone Cup  – Paralympics for Motorcycling
This weekend, August 23 and 24th, the international circuit of Mugello will host a motorsport event without precedent: the first motorcycle race in the world reserved exclusively for the disabled. At the start almost twenty riders, mostly with paralised limbs or amputees, but also with visual or hearing impairments.
Representing Australia came the rider who is considered a legend: Alan Kempster, who defines himself  “half a man”, after losing his right arm and leg. He races without the aid of prosthetics, defying the laws of gravity and facing full gas accelerations and powerful brakings in the high-speed Tuscan circuit relying only on his left side.
In the starting grid there will also be a woman, Samantha Palmucci, from Rome, penalized by a partial lesion of the brachial nerve of her left arm.
It was 1960 when Rome hosted the first “Summer Paralympic Games”. In over fifty years, the sport for athletes with disabilities has come a long way. Suffice it to say that if in the first edition counted 57 races in 8 different sports, and was attended by 400 athletes representing 23 nations, in the last Paralympics, played in London in 2012, 164 nations were represented, and 4,294 athletes were present.
In motorcycling, however, competitions for riders with disabilities previously did not exist. Inventing them was the non-profit association Diversamente Disabili, led by Tuscan Emiliano Malagoli, from province of Lucca, who three years ago lost his right leg from the knee down just in a motorcycle accident. The association has set as its primary goal helping people with similar problems to be back on the saddle again, on motorcycle, as in life.
Founded just a year and a half ago, the non-profit organization Di.Di. has made great strides. After having their athletes in the starting grid along with “normal” riders in the Bridgestone Champions Challenge, in classes 600 and 1000 cc, a competition reserved exclusively for Di.Di. riders has been created. On the order of arrival coefficients of disability will be applied, just like in the Paralympics. The experiment was carried out thanks to the collaboration between the non-profit Di.Di. organization and Igor Confortin, coach of the Parasnowboard Italian national team, and has been applied for the first time last May 11, in a similar race that was held in Vallelunga. This time, however, the starting grid is a leap forward, because it has been included in the calendar of FIM international events in a circuit like Mugello, which hosts world competitions.
In addition to the race, the weekend will offer moments of conviviality with the riders and friends of the association. On Saturday night, in the Bridgestone Hospitality there will be a great party in the paddock and a meeting with testimonials – among them the riders Alex De Angelis from MotoGP, Dario Marchetti from endurance, Fabio Massei and Massimo Roccoli from Supersport, and the MotoGP team manager Lucio Cecchinello, who will also lead the way to the race on Sunday. Special guest, Alessandro Nannini, who shares the spirit of Di.Di. after having been forced to abandon his career in Formula 1 for a dramatic incident in the Nineties, when the blades of a helicopter had amputated his arm, which was afterwards miraculously reattached.
Among the initiatives in the Tuscan weekend, Dario Marchetti, head instructor of the Ducati Riding Experience, will be on track with the beautiful two-seater Ducati 1199 Panigale which in the recent WDW was used by World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss, to share the excitement of riding in circuit with some enthusiasts and give them the opportunity to enjoy the most powerful cavalry of the “red bike” from Borgo Panigale.
“I want to say a special thank to all the Di.Di. friends and to the sponsors who made the realization of this dream possible”, Emiliano Malagoli said. “I never thought of reaching this milestone in just over a year after the founding of the association. It will be an unforgettable weekend for everyone”.
