TTARDOZZI!
Davide Tardozzi hails from Ravenna, Italy, near the Adriatic coast. Trying to keep himself from getting killed racing around on the local streets, Davide started racing with a 125, but after two years decided it was time to move up onto 600cc production based machines.
Tardozzi: “It was exactly like Moto2, the frame was free, and the engine should be a non-racing engine. I was riding a Ducati Pantah with a frame built up by an engineer from Ravenna who became quite famous afterward: Federico Martini.”
Federico Martini picks up the story: “Thanks to a common friend, I met Davide in 1980. He was a young rider and me a young engineer, both with the same dream: to be involved in bike races and racing. We won the Italian Championship in 1982. It was a very good result, because Davide and I were without sponsors and without personal money backing us.”
It wasn’t long before the lure of Grand Prix racing beckoned, with Davide racing 250GP in the European Championship and in 1984/85 the 250cc World Championships. Tardozzi recalls: “I was a privateer, just me, my wife, and a good friend of mine since we were young, named Bruno Leoni.”
Leoni says: “I first met Davide in 1972, when we were in the same Ravenna motorcycle club. He came to me for help with the bike, as he was just starting in 250GPs, a privateer on a customer Morbidelli.”
