The Forward team owner responds to Lorenzo: "We offered him a contract renewal in June, then a ride in CEV, but we were told no. I’m sorry to say it but Corsi was always ahead of him"
02.12.2021 ( Aggiornata il 02.12.2021 22:14 )
The third law of dynamics states: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. This rule can be applied to physics of course, but also to relationships between human beings. And it may explain Forward team owner Giovanni Cuzari’s desire to respond to the words of his former rider Lorenzo Baldassarri, who recently talked about his complicated 2021 season on these pages.
“I was sorry to read such a controversial interview – begins Cuzari – despite the fact we tried to do everything for Lorenzo, right from the start of the season. We offered him a contract renewal for example, in June, as we could see that Lorenzo needed reassurance”.
How did the negotiations go?
“I spoke with both the rider and his manager (Simone Battistella), and I was told that they were considering two MotoGP proposals, from Aprilia and Petronas. I know both Rivola and Razali and I knew that wouldn’t come off, which, unluckily for Lorenzo, was the case. A few weeks later, some members of my team were pushing me to terminate the relationship with Lorenzo, but we then decided to continue on to the end of the season so as to avoid any other problems”.
Were there any other developments once the season ended?
“Yes. Seeing as we’re going to race in the CEV next season, I asked Lorenzo to stay with us in that championship and do the maximum number of wildcards to try and rebuild his confidence. But this offer was also rejected, so I have a clear conscience, having done more that any other team owner would have done. We are now interested in creating a Supersport team, with two fast riders who don’t have to pay, as that’s not our policy, but we need to run the numbers”.
Cuzari: “A rider needs to demonstrate that hunger”
Let’s look back at 2021. Baldassarri’s team changed several times during the season. Why was that?
“We changed Lorenzo’s team several times, it’s true, but we did so in order to be sure we tried everything. From the telemetry it looked as if there were a problem, mid-turn for example. At one point we even brought our aerodynamicist to the tracks, especially for him, and he acted as a crew chief and psychologist to Lorenzo in the final part of the season. The direction we took was the right one, but then Balda came to his own decision, which I respect as I support him.”
Do you think MV provided the right level of support during the year?
“Let’s not forget the regulation, which ruled out any development during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, so we’re still racing with the 2019 bike. After a meeting three months ago, we got the OK to work on some small updates and we created a new swingarm but only at Valencia, where we scored pole position. So it’s not true that the manufacturer didn’t work, but they did have to adhere to the regulation. And this leads me on to something else”.
Tell us.
“When Corsi came to work on the bike in the wind tunnel this summer, Baldassarri could have come too, but he preferred to stay on holiday in Sardinia. I’m not saying that to make waves, but if a rider is truly hungry, they need to demonstrate that”.
In your opinion, what was it that didn’t work for Baldassarri?
“I don’t think he’s mentally serene. I know he’s had some minor heart issues, and the crashes didn’t help of course, but in general I think it’s a matter of confidence, which needs to be rebuilt. I’m sorry to say it but his 35-year old team-mate (Simone Corsi) was always in front of him, something we didn’t expect, to the point that we’d told Simone at the start of the year that 2021 would be his last season with us. Our plan for 2022 was to retain Lorenzo and bring in a young rider, but the results led us to change direction. So I don’t really understand why he feels the need to bite the hand that fed him, so to speak”.
Translated by Heather Watson
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