A Tribute for an Amazing Cause
At the FIM Superbike World Championship in Portugal, Yamaha thought it was a good opportunity to tribute the late and great Fabio Pirovano with a custom 1 of 1 replica R1 racebike to be ridden by previous Yamaha WorldSBK racer, Alessandro Gramigni, on a tribute lap at the Portuguese circuit.
Fabio Pirovano was a talented motorcycle racer, riding for both Yamaha and Ducati in the Superbike World Championships and became the 1998 champion in the Supersport World Championship bringing his Suzuki GSX-R to victory lane after his fifth race in the series.
He is a very special rider for the Yamaha brand because when the Superbike World Championship began in 1998, he was one of the very first entrants into the series with team Yamaha joining the party as his +1.
Due to the special relationship between the rider and the brand, Yamaha decided it would be a fitting tribute for them to retrofit a 2020 R1 into a replica of his YZF 750 SP – the bike he won his final WorldSBK race with at the Portuguese circuit in 1993 – and donate the funds from the auction to a cancer research charity selected by Pirovano’s family: Fondazione Oncologia Niguarda Onlus.
Pirovano tragically died on the 12th of June, 2016 after succumbing to his long fight with an incurable tumor.
Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager, Andrea Dosoli, weighed in on the subject: “Fabrizio Pirovano has been a rider, but even more, a person who has left indelible and special memories in the WorldSBK and Yamaha families… Returning to Estoril 27 years after Fabrizio’s last WorldSBK victory with Yamaha has been a unique opportunity for all of us to remember him.”
“This special Yamaha R1, a replica of the YZF 750 SP raced to victory by Piro in 1993, was built by Yamaha Motor Europe. It was an emotional moment for Alessandro to bring the famous colours back to the site of their last victory with Fabrizio“, she continued.
The R1 replica can be found on ebay.co.uk and the auction ends on the first of November. Currently, the bids sit at £25,000.00 with nine days remaining in the auction.