At the same time that Valentino Rossi was accumulating successes in MotoGP, Livio Suppo was developing a successful career in motorcycle racing, but from the outside as a technician and team leader.
In an interview with Moto.it, the former Suzuki executive recalled: ‘I took Valentino to Benetton. We had the meeting and there were, I think, Graziano [Valentino’s father], Gibo [Badioli], Vale, and there were me, Alessandro [Benetton], Mauro and [Luciano] Benetton’.
Although they coincided at the beginning of their careers, these two prominent figures in MotoGP never had a solid relationship, as Suppo recounted: ‘Let’s say that, except in the 1990s, when we had some occasional relationships, we never really had a formal relationship. We never worked together, never dined together, but from a certain point I always worked for the riders who were his biggest rivals, so obviously it’s more difficult‘.
Currently, the two Italians remain distant, despite Il Dottore having already ended his career: ‘I have great esteem for Valentino, because we are crazy if we do not have esteem for what he has done for this sport and for the talent he had, but I cannot say that I have a relationship with Vale,’ said Suppo.
