Piaggio boss enjoys Simoncelli and Di Meglio success

After a highly successful visit to Phillip Island last weekend for the Piaggio Group, Giampiero Sacchi from the Italian company was in an understandably good mood when he spoke to motogp.com.

Having seen Mike di Meglio clinch the World Championship crown at the same time as Aprilia wrapped up yet another constructors´ World title in the 125cc category Sacchi beamed, `Mike has shown that he is the boss! He is the leader in the group and he has shown the others that he is more consistent, stronger. He has made a very big step this year.´

The Italian manager has been pleasantly surprised by Di Meglio´s vast improvement in form this season since his move to Ajo Motorsport. Last year the Frenchman finished seventeenth in the standings, scoring points in just nine of the seventeen 125cc races riding for Kopron Team Scot Honda.

`It would not have been easy to imagine this kind of result for Di Meglio three years ago. It is like with Marco Simoncelli, people did not expect this success from Mike, but not everyone is like Valentino Rossi who arrived and won immediately. Lots of riders need time.´

When asked if he was aware whether or not Di Meglio would stay in the single cylinder class and remain with his current employers next season Sacchi answered honestly, `I don´t know, but I have some friends who tell me he is in contact with another brand so we will see what happens.´

Meanwhile, reflecting on Marco Simoncelli´s excellent 250cc win at `the Island´, after a great battle with title rival Alvaro Bautista, which takes Simoncelli 37 points clear at the top of the standings with two rounds remaining, Saachi was impressed by what he had witnessed.

`The first thing that I believe everybody has in their mind is that you hope nothing bad will happen when you watch a race like that, because a disaster is always very near,´ Saachi commented. `But I have to say that races like that are like the `flowers´ of the sport, with two very competitive riders with a lot of respect for each other. I don´t believe that there was any moment when they were fighting without honour.´