Moto3 Sachsenring: Exclusive interview with Andrea Migno, Sky VR46 rider

We are at the Sachsenring with Andrea Migno, rider of Team Sky VR46, a team born from the merger between Sky and VR46, who have joined forces and ideas to give life to an ambitious project: to support and develop the riders who wear the tricolour. In addition to Romano Fenati, who already boasts victories in the Moto3 class, this year the team is fielding the rookie from Cattolica, born in 1996, who has already been part of Valentino Rossi's VR46 Riders Academy since last season and is the second from this year rider of the Sky Racing Team VR46 in the 2015 Moto3 World Championship. Below is our exclusive interview.

Andrea, let's start from afar, how and when did your passion for two wheels begin?

“First of all I must say that our area (Andrea was born in Cattolica, ed.) is famous for motors; then to go to my grandmother's house I always passed a minibike track, I started there and then I became passionate about it."

You arrived in the world championship, you race in one of the most important teams in the championship, the Sky Racing Team VR46, what would you recommend to a young person who wants to embark on a motorcycling career?

“The advice is to stay calm, to learn as much as possible from those who are going faster. You always have to try to improve and have fun. You must never give up, you must always be focused with the aim of improving yourself.”

What does racing in the world championship mean to you? Has it always been your dream or did you have doubts about not being able to get there during your apprenticeship?

“There are always doubts until you win, but you have to demonstrate that you can always improve and that you know how to go fast. Even Vale (Rossi, ed.) when he was in Ducati had doubts about his competitiveness, but then afterwards there are the facts that deny or confirm whether you are strong."

In recent years Spain has dominated, doing what Italy did a decade ago. Now the Italian "movement" seems to be undergoing great growth and helping it is both the Federation Team and Valentino Rossi's VR46 Academy, of which you are part. Tell us how you came to be part of the Academy and what a typical day goes like together with the other "kids".

“I joined thanks to a friend from Vale, who helped me do some races in the Spanish championship. From there we met, we were in the gym together and then the Academy was born. I had broken my collarbone and Vale's friend had sent me for rehabilitation where he was also there (Rossi, ed.) and a physiotherapist, who is now our trainer. Thanks to this series of reasons I entered the Academy. We train every day in the gym and then about once a week we go filming at the Ranch together with the other guys.”

What does Valentino Rossi represent for you and what does it mean to be able to train with a nine-time world champion, who at the "tender" age of 36 is leading the MotoGP world championship?

“It's difficult to say anything about Vale. Each time he confirms himself more and more as #1 even if he doesn't need it; training with him is the best, you couldn't ask for more. The situation of an Academy driver is certainly Top. When you are under the wing of the Academy it is difficult to ask for more.”

Valentino is loved or "hated", sportingly speaking, it is difficult to find middle ground; What can you say about it, you who "live" it? What is the “thing” that strikes you most about him?

“It's surprising because at 36 years old he trains as if he hadn't won anything yet and in my opinion this makes the difference. Without this motivation and this desire he wouldn't be leading the championship.”

Last year you rode the Mahindra for a few races, now you're riding the KTM, what are the main differences? This year the reverse switch was made by Francesco Bagnaia (he is also part of the VR46 Academy) and he seems to have benefited from it.

“The Mahindra is a very simple bike to ride, but it takes more effort to take the last step. It allows you to easily get close to the top five, because it is an easy, safe bike, a nice bike. The KTM is a more "ignorant" bike, more difficult to exploit, but if you can, it has good potential. In the end therefore they are equivalent, they follow two different paths to arrive at the same result."

What is the thing that struck you the most when moving from the CEV to the world championship?

“The CEV in the last year that I did it was a mini-world championship. There were many riders who are now in the Moto3 class, so the level was very high. The world championship is a bit more than the CEV, but the latter was at a very high level, there were many drivers who were doing well. The paddock environment was also very similar, as was the competitiveness.”

The world championship has reached the halfway point, the ninth of the eighteen scheduled stages will take place here at the Sachsenring. What is your assessment of this first part of the season riding an official motorbike (KTM), did you meet your expectations? And what are the objectives between now and the end of the championship?

“The expectations were created during the first Grands Prix, because it is difficult to make evaluations before starting. After Le Mans we improved a little and we are having some good races, we should confirm ourselves in the twelve and maybe it would be nice to do two "high" races between now and the end of the year. It's true that there are some tracks that I don't know, but they are tracks where you still have to go fast.”

Andrea Migno in action at the Sachsenring

Andrea Migno's profile:

He made his competitive debut at the age of 8 among Minimotos. In 2005 he became Junior A European Champion, a path to subsequent promotion to the higher Junior B class (2nd in the 2007 European Championship).
Confirmed presence in the top-5 of the Italian MiniGP 50cc Championship (three-year period 2006-2008).

In 2007 he made his way among 125 starters at the Metrakit World Festival 70cc in Valencia, finishing in the top ten as an absolute rookie.

The inevitable next step is represented by a training experience in Spain in the preparatory 125cc PreGP (as part of the Mediterranean and Catalonia Championship) and in the Cuna de Campeones, a single-make series which saw him finish 6th overall in 2009.

His return to his homeland sees him among the protagonists of the Honda Italia RS125GP Trophy and, in autumn 2010, he passes with full merit and title (and with chronometric references of absolute value) the selections to participate in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in the following season .

In 2011 he amazed in the final two rounds of the CEV 125 GP: with a Team Agoracing Aprilia, he qualified on the third row in Valencia and scored the first two points in the race. The following week, in Jerez de la Frontera, he was third overall at the finish line, second in the 125cc class.

The adventure continues in the Campeonato de España de Velocidad, moving in the meantime from the 125cc 2-stroke to the 250cc 4-stroke Moto3. With an FTR Honda managed as a "family business" by GMT Racing, he is the best Italian in the standings, wins pole position in Albacete and, on the same track, also repeats himself in the Moto3 European Championship in a single race in October.

An exponential growth in terms of performance, confirmed by two positive wild card appearances in the World Championship between Barcelona and Brno, which allowed him to become part of Valentino Rossi's VR46 Riders Academy, a project expressly dedicated to enhancing the most promising talents of the Italian nursery.

2014 immediately sees him among the top riders of the CEV Moto3, taking 46rd place in Race 3 in Jerez with a KALEX-KTM of the Aspar-VR2 partnership. Subsequently, promotion to the category World Championship: he replaces the Australian Arthur Sissis at the official Mahindra Racing team in the 7 final rounds of the calendar: among these stands out an eighth position achieved at the Grand Prix of the Republic of San Marino and the Riviera of Rimini.

Finally, in 2015, the Sky Racing Team VR46 was called.

Career:

2004
13th Italian Junior Minimoto Championship

2005
1st European Minimoto Junior Championship
4th Italian Junior Minimoto Championship

2006
5th Italian Minimoto Junior B Championship
5th European Minimoto Junior B Championship
4th Italian MiniGP Metrakit 50cc Championship

2007
2th European Minimoto Junior B Championship
5th Italian Minimoto Junior B Championship
4th Italian MiniGP 50cc Championship

2008
5th Italian MiniGP 50cc Championship; 6th Catalan PreGP 125cc Championship

2009
6th Cuna de Campeones Bancaja (4 races played)
10th 125cc PreGP Mediterranean Speed ​​Championship

2010
6th Honda Italia RS125GP Trophy

2011
20th Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup; 1st podium in the CEV 125 GP

2012
22nd CEV Moto3

2013
8th CEV Moto3; 4th Moto3 European Championship (author of the pole position)

2014
7th CEV Moto3; 7 races in the Moto3 World Championship (8th in Misano)