After the Netherlands’ Finn de Bruin (18), Italy’s Kevin Sabatucci (20) and Jacopo Facco (19), France’s Andy Verdoïa (16), and Spain’s Beatriz Neila (17) put in the hard work on their first three Yamaha VR46 Master Camp days, they were rewarded with a fourth day full of surprises.
The day started off as normal, with the riders making an early start to complete a running session at the Fisio Gym. The intensity level was upped a couple of steps this time by their trainer Carlo Casabianca and Moto2-rider Luca Marini. In the clear sunshine the riders were then asked to hop into the van to attend a special activity the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp had organised for them in collaboration with Yamaha Marine Europe and Yamaha Marine Italy. The local authorities and port authorities gave the Master Camp special permission to run this event.
Naturally, when the riders saw the Yamaha GP1800 and EX Deluxe WaveRunners that they would be riding, they couldn’t contain their excitement. They quickly changed into their special Yamaha wetsuits, to start the training.
The instructor of the day, Alessandro Marcianò, is a legendary Italian surfer, who is not only acknowledged worldwide for his surfing records, but also incredibly skilled in steering WaveRunners. This is thanks to the surfing ‘buddy system’, where, when one surfer is out in the water, a second one follows him on a WaveRunner.
Marcianò had the students up and running in no time, in perfect control of their WaveRunners, and it drew quite the star-studded crowd. Not only did the port authorities come to say hello to the riders, but also MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli and Moto2-rider Lorenzo Baldassarri came to watch the young protégés in action.“Being here with Yamaha Marine and the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp is a first for all of us.”, said Marcianò after his final run. “I'm honoured to be a part of this and that I get to train these talented riders from all over Europe. “We were lucky that, contrary to today’s weather forecast, it was sunny. This means we were able to run the event without problem, which is really nice because it was some of these guys’ first time on a WaveRunner.
“For this session I focused on learning them, first of all, how to ride and turn before moving on to some more intricate tricks and some faster exercises, but these guys already have good riding skills, so having fun was the main thing today.They are super fast and competitive!”
The students were having the time of their lives on the Pesaro beach, but little did they know the Master Camp crew had another surprise in store for them – a big one. The riders were driven to the VR46 Motor Ranch in the evening for a special main event. They were invited by VR46 to a private training session, to watch Valentino Rossi and their VR46 Academy friends in action.
After a quick photo opportunity, the Master Camp riders couldn’t believe their luck that they were sitting front row to watch their childhood hero live in action. After taking a close look at his superb flat track riding style, they were fully immersed in watching the Americana race (they rode one themselves on Day 3), which ultimately was won by Rossi after a hard-fought finale against Morbidelli.
“I’ve been following the Master Camp and their training, and on Day 4 we finally had the chance to meet.”, said Rossi at the end of the day. “They visited the Ranch to say hello and watch the training session with the VR46 Academy riders, who they’ve met before. I heard from the guys and the other coaches that the Master Camp riders’ level is already high, but maybe they still found some points where they think they can improve on flat track by paying close attention to our riding style. The Americana race was a fun way to end the evening. I hope that the Master Camp guys and girl enjoyed the show!”
