Few hours before the Grand Scorpion Exo of Italy, the Bordone-Ferrari rider Thomas OLDRATI (I – KTM) gives us some impressions about his EWC season, his new team and the future of the Italian Enduro…
Thomas OLDRATI, after a so hard 2011 season what do you think of your first part of season?
Thomas OLDRATI: “You’re right; last year was a very hard year for me. But now I feel better, for sure it’s not my best year in the EWC but I’m back and I need to find the rhythm of the World Championship.”
How and when did you have any contact with Bordone-Ferrari to race in the EWC?
T.O: “At the end of the last season, many teams contact me and I decided to join the Bordone-Ferrari team. After this really bad year, the only solution for me was to change everything and to find new challenges and a new taste to the race. Now, I feel really good with Bordone-Ferrari and they ask me to be very professional and to give all my best during each Grand Prix.”
This weekend you’ll race in your country and the city home of Fabrizio MEONI, does it mean something special for you?
T.O: “Bordone-Ferrari director Renato FERRARI was an excellent friend of Fabrizio MEONI that is why he asked me, Jonathan (MANZI) and Edoardo (D’AMBROSIO) to give everything we have to make a very good race and to try to bring a victory in the memory of MEONI. But, as I’ve already raced in Castiglion Fiorentino, I know that the track will be difficult with a tough ground full of stone. It will be a good race for sure.”
You are 2008 Junior World Champion; Is it really “a good school” to start EWC?
T.O: “Yes for sure it is a really great school for young enduro riders. I think it is the best school to reach the top level of Enduro. I love my years in the Junior classes and I’ve learnt a lot during them. After those years, I was ready to join the senior classes.”
Italian Enduro is not anymore on the Top now confronting to France or Spain. Can you give us your opinion about it and do you expect an improvement in the future?
T.O: “Unfortunately, in this moment we don’t have not so many Italian riders on the best riders in Enduro. We have a lot of riders pushing but it is difficult for them to find their place in the EWC. In the old times, a lot of Italian riders were dominating the World Championship but I think that now, this years are over and I’m working every day to be one of those new top Italian riders. The federation is also working hard for it and in the future I think that we will have a lot of World Champion.”