Alessandro Di Mario's Diary: "I'll tell you about my new American adventure

Let’s begin this diary, with which I’d like to convey at least a bit of the beautiful, slightly vintage atmosphere of MotoAmerica, with a brief self-introduction. My name is Alessandro Di Mario, I’m 17, I was born in Vasto (the same town as Andrea Iannone) but I moved to the USA, to Kentucky, when I was 10. In Italy I only raced minibikes. I’m proud of my Italian roots, but as a motorcycle racer I consider myself—and am considered—American.

I’ve been racing in MotoAmerica for three years and I’ve won all three of the lower-tier championships I’ve competed in. This season I’ll race in Supersport for the first time with Rahal Ducati, one of the most prestigious and ambitious teams.

In a way I’ll be teammates with Mick Schumacher, since the team owner—IndyCar driver Graham Rahal—is the same owner as the IndyCar team. The owner, a driver himself, is the son of the legendary Bobby Rahal, winner of the Indianapolis 500 and three CART championships. I’ll be surrounded by many exceptional people on the team.

My Supersport teammates will be Joshua Herrin and Kayla Yaakov. Josh needs no introduction: it’s enough to say he’s won the last three editions of the Daytona 200. Kayla is one of the most highly rated and consistent riders; this will be her third year in Supersport and she’s definitely the fastest girl ever to ride a race bike. If you don’t know her yet, you’ll be hearing about her soon.

Making it all even more exciting: the Team Principal is none other than Ben Spies, Superbike World Champion in 2009.

I’m writing these notes as I’m departing from Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport: I’m taking off for Arizona for the first pre-season test with the team. I’ll let you know how it goes...