Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
72 hours with Tony Arbolino: a seamless rise to success in MotoGP™
The Italian talent is battling for overall Moto2™ honours after just two seasons at that level. Discover more about him and his racing journey as we catch up with him at the last round in Assen.
Thursday of the Aragon MotoGP™ in 2021. I was walking down the pit-lane in the late afternoon and the only sounds to be heard were the clangs of tools being used for final preparations on motorcycles ahead of Friday practices.
Out of nowhere, I heard someone singing the chorus from American pop singer Alicia Keys’s hit single Girl on Fire at the very top of their voice. I turned to look and see who it was. It was Moto2™ rider Tony Arbolino, sat on his bike while his mechanics – unfortunately, without ear protection – worked around him.
Confident in his abilities and self-assured
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
He laughed when we made eye contact: "Hey, bro! How are you doing?!”
“You enjoying yourself there Tony?” I replied.
“Always, man!” came he reply.
His mechanic let out a smile and looks at me as if to say, 'yes, this kind of thing is standard procedure for Tony'.
Arbolino comes across as carefree, quirky, fun-loving and, honestly, somewhat erratic. Few others in the MotoGP™ world, if any, are like him. How can someone like this apparently flick a switch and have such laser-sharp focus for a full 40 minutes, 20 Sundays a year and be a world championship contender?
Arbolino's good nature shines through with everyone he meets
© Matt Dunn
Making time for the fans in Assen, posing for an inventible selfie!
© Matt Dunn
Fast forward to 2023. Thursday, June 24 at the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen and Arbolino leads the Moto2™ World Championship ahead of Pedro Acosta. Up until this point, there had only been one race this season where Arbolino has failed to get a win or podium finish, so it seemed the ideal setting to sit down with him and find out who he really is and what makes him tick over the next 72 hours.
"I love to be myself, but right now I’m trying to be more serious with you, because I want to make sure I detail all the steps I made to get here," he says.
So let’s start from the beginning. Many racers get their start in riding motorcycles when their parents buy one for them at a young age, probably thanks to some historical family involvement in the sport. When Arbolino was barely walking, his dad went to a pocket bike dealer not to buy one for his son, but for himself. Only when a buy-one-get-one-free deal was offered, did Arbolino senior acquire one for Tony to ride with him.
"We went riding and I was faster than my dad! He was so, so surprised. Of course, from the age of one I was riding bicycles, but never a motorcycle before. My family had always been confused as to why I had such an early sense of balance."
Mechanic Guille Carrillo with session updates during Friday's session
© Matt Dunn
When I'm on the bike, I can perceive all the small details – that's something I have inside of me
You might think from this moment it was almost written in the stars for Arbolino to become a professional racer. Strictly speaking, you could say that in Italy the path to racing stardom is seldom laid out in front of young riders with many opportunities to legitimately pursue a career. Well, that's, if you live along the Rimini coastline – where the majority of today’s Italian MotoGP™ superstars were born and bred, along with a certain nine-time champion, Valentino Rossi.
The problem for Arbolino however was that he grew up in a small town outside Milan, some 400kms away. It only took a few rides for the Arbolinos to make the decision to pursue racing. But for Tony's dad, a car mechanic in their hometown, working day and night to buy a caravan to travel to the races was just the start of the true cost of chasing the racing dream.
"I was in school Monday to Friday and then Friday afternoon we drove to the Rimini coast, riding Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night it was four hours back home, Monday school. I wasn't able to do homework, so school was so bad," says Arbolino.
"It wasn't easy for me from six years old until 10 or 11. I was doing this every week. This was tough. But when I grew up, this gave me extra motivation and extra, let's say, ability, to always push myself."
Distance remained the main challenge in those years, but the graft of 800km driving per week and riding rain or shine – while riders growing up on the Rimini coast were able to ride during the week as well as having the 'luxury' of not to when the weather turned bad – only fuelled Arbolino's fire to make something of his passion.
"I put so much effort in for both my dad and myself. I need to say that we didn't have one euro for this, not one extra euro. My dad worked day and night for that caravan and if I didn't take this seriously, my dad couldn't make those 400km journeys twice a week."
As we talk more on Thursday and see him interact with his team over the course of the weekend, there's a theme that runs through it all. In addition to a passion for the sport, Arbolino's motivation seems to come from a sense of gratitude for those that help him.
Returning to the pits after being out on the Assen circuit
© Matt Dunn
He mentions one key figure, Angelo Tacca, a man from his village who "saw potential" and provided extra funding to the Arbolinos' racing endeavours until Tony made it to the Moto3™ World Championship. His manager Carlo Pernat, a legendary figure in the MotoGP™ paddock, took Arbolino on in 2019, having stayed in contact for many years prior and told him he would be his last rider to manage before retirement. "That gave me extra motivation, too," says Arbolino with a large grin.
A potential opportunity to join Rossi's academy was declined in favour of staying with his home-like Sic58 Squadra Corse team in the Spanish Moto3 Championship, such was the family environment that Paolo Simoncelli put in place for Arbolino in those years, guiding him to the world stage.
Simoncelli’s crew were right for Arbolino at that stage, but after a disappointing debut year in the Moto3™ World Championship in 2017, finishing 34th overall with just two points, that situation had run its course. Arbolino and Simoncelli remain close however to this day. In 2022 Arbolino made the step up to Moto2™ after three career wins at Moto3™.
Arbolino's crew discuss bike set-up changes
© Matt Dunn
The MarcVDS team Arbolino now belongs to is one of the most successful in the paddock. Any rider would be delighted to join their ranks in the Moto2™ category and Arbolino has made an instant impact, with five wins for the Belgian outfit. This is his second year with the team and expectations are high from everyone, not that you'd know it when you walk into the garage.
"I have the best people beside me and behind me. That's the thing, you can go to the biggest team, but if you don’t feel right with the people then the name is nothing. You need to feel right."
The Assen weekend wasn't going well for Arbolino on Friday and Saturday. He's fast in a few sections of the track, but one part is causing him particular issues. "Don't worry, Saturday's always a bit shit. Sundays are what matter," one of his mechanics explains. Arbolino qualified 10th on the grid for the race. His crew chief, Lucio Nicastro, waits for him toenter the pit lane and gives him a hug as he steps off the bike – not every rider and crew chief have that strong of a relationship.
Crew chief Lucio Nicastro gives Arbilino a hug after a tough Saturday
© Matt Dunn
Until this eighth race of the season, Arbolino's lowest finish was a fourth. He'd also scored two wins, three second places and a third back in round one. He's in the form of his life and leading the championship ahead of Acosta, whom we spent the weekend with in Jérez.
I don't think Arbolino will mind me saying that many in the sport were expecting Acosta to come in like a freight train and clear off with the title. Arbolino has taken it to him however. Not only that, but in the same way Acosta gets the other side of the sport, that it's entertainment, so too does the Italian. They push each other to new levels in their riding. They clearly aren't friends yet meet one another with respect, even if Acosta's pointed celebration as a pizza delivery boy after taking victory on Arbolino's turf in Mugello rubbed his team up the wrong way.
So far it's been Acosta that's faltered on occasion. Arbolino won in France while Acosta crashed out chasing him. The only error so far this year was actually this very weekend: Arbolino could only manage seventh place at the chequered flag, up three positions from lights out.
Arbolino in jubilant mood after winning in France earlier in the season
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
A tough weekend in practice and qualifying, waking up on Sunday knowing he’s on the back foot and that Acosta was strong here… all the ingredients for a silly mistake, losing the championship lead and entering the five-week summer break wondering why?
"What I want to say to you is that my biggest strength is my self-control," states Arbolino. "I can manage all the situations and have really good control of my mind and body. That's what helps me be so focused on Sundays and not make mistakes."
Much to build on after a seventh at the Dutch MotoGP™
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
A statement full of self-confidence, a bit of bravado maybe? Perhaps, if he had said this after Sunday's salvage job of a result. But no, this was before he even turned a wheel in anger that weekend. I believe him.
"When I'm on the bike, I can perceive all the small details – that’s something I have inside of me. It's not easy to feel, but when I'm on the bike, I'm there. Speed doesn't affect me, so I feel almost like I'm sleeping."
There's nothing to suggest in words or actions that he can’t take this title fight all the way to the final race like he did in Moto3™, only this time he's more likely to stand on the top step of the podium when all is said and done.
