Two weeks ago at the Portuguese GP, Arón Canet secured his first victory in the Moto2 World Championship. With this achievement, the Fantic Racing rider left Portimão leading the championship, earning praise from team manager Roberto Locatelli.
The Italian considers Canet to be the best rider in the intermediate category, even comparing him to Casey Stoner as he stated on the constructor’s official website: ‘From my point of view, what we have in our favour is the best rider in Moto2. If you put him on the bike, just by instinct, he makes me think of Casey Stoner. We were teammates, and when there was still a qualifying session on both Friday and Saturday, his time set on Friday would still be at the top of the standings on Saturday as well. It was just his overwhelming, explosive performance. I am not saying Arón is the same, however, he reminds me of this. Sometimes there are similarities between riders – just like it happens for all of us in our day-to-day life as well – and in the way he expresses his speed Arón reminds me of Casey. That is something I have realized since I started to work with him, since that first testing day after the Valencia GP 2023’.
Locatelli particularly highlighted the explosiveness of Canet, who currently leads the championship by two points: ‘Arón is very explosive and this explosiveness needs to be managed. I feel like he is showing that he can handle it. It’s his own traction control, not an electronic button but a mental one. If he continues to activate it at the right time, it is very likely we will see him battling for the top positions constantly, just like in Portimão’.
Between 1995 and 2009, Locatelli competed in motorcycle World Championships and even won, speaking about the sensation of standing on the top step of the podium: ‘I have experienced it nine times as a rider but winning for the first time as a team manager made me feel like a kid at the leisure park again. Standing on the podium and seeing my rider get emotional during the national anthem brought out all the feels, it was like entering Disney World, with a film starting in your head’.
The current Fantic team manager also said: ‘It feels like touching something that makes you feel invincible. That won’t last for too long but, while everyone else was running, I slowed down walking from the pit wall to the parc fermé. I wanted to make this moment last as long as it possibly could. I remember the day I won my World Championship title in Japan. I slowed down on the in-lap to make sure I could experience all the emotions even longer. I did the same in Portimão for Arón Canet. It was such a strong feeling, with Arón who had never won in Moto2 before, with Fantic entrusting me with this team manager role – and we made it happen at the second race of the season. Winning together with them made it feel as special as my own victories. There was also a bit of pressure after the missed opportunity at the first race but you don’t ever have to show it because you have to take the pressure off the rider. It is a bit like being a parent and Arón Canet is like my son on a sporting level’.