Vale Fabrizio Pirovano
One of the hard men of world superbike competition has passed awayItalian Fabrizio Pirovano, one of the original hard men of world superbike (WorldSBK) racing, has passed away at the age of 56 from cancer.
Riding a steel-framed Yamaha FZ750, the pint-sized Pirovano took on the might of Bimota, Ducati and Honda in the early days of WorldSBK competition, and finished second in the first-ever championship in 1988, just 5.5pts behind American Fred Merkel on an RC30.
Pirovano finished second again in 1990, this time behind Frenchman Raymond Roche, and in an eight-year WorldSBK career which ended in 1995 he was on the podium 47 times for 10 wins.
One of his great rivals was Aussie Rob Phillis, who has remembered his great mate fondly on social media today.
"So sad that my little Italian mate Fabrizio Pirovano has passed," said Phillis on Facebook. "What a great rider he was. In 75 percent of my 108 WorldSBK races I battled with Piro.
"He was a good little bloke who didn't speak a word of English but we're got on and communicated so well together. I remember all the fun times we had travelling the world with his sister keeping him under control — not! The world of motorcycling will miss you."
After he called time on WorldSBK racing, Pirovano moved into the supersport sphere, and was the 'World Series' champion in 1998 on a Suzuki GSX-R600 — one year before it became a fully fledged world championship.
RIP Fabrizio.
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