Italian Niccolo Canepa says he is excited by the challenge of racing the Team EBR Hero 1190RX alongside teammate and team manager Larry Pegram in the 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship.
“I had many opportunities in Superbike and Supersport [for 2015], but I was excited and curious to ride an EBR because it’s a nice challenge for me,” Canepa told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday. “It’s a factory team, first of all. It’s the first time in my life to ride for a factory team, and I like this opportunity. Also because I think the bike didn’t show its potential last year, so we can make it better. I was a test rider for Ducati for many years in Superbike, Superstock and MotoGP, and it’s nice for me to help improve a bike.”
Canepa began his racing career in Italy at age 11. In 2006 he was the runner-up in the FIM European 1000cc Superstock Championship while riding for the Ducati Xerox Junior Team, and the next season he won the Championship. This earned him a job as an official MotoGP test rider for Ducati in 2008 and a full-time ride in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship with Pramac Ducati, a year that saw him record two top-10 finishes and 16th in the Championship.
In 2010, he raced a limited season for Bimota’s fledgling Moto2 World Championship effort, before returning to the FIM 1000cc Superstock Championship in 2011, when he placed fifth. He had a rough year in the 2012 Superbike World Championship, but bounced back to be the runner-up in the 2013 FIM 1000cc Superstock Championship with six podiums in 10 races. Canepa also did three fill-in rides on Superbikes in 2013 and recorded one top-10 finish.
In 2014, Canepa rode an EVO-class Ducati 1199 Panigale for Althea Racing and he was the runner-up in the EVO Championship, with several EVO-class wins and points scored in 17 of 22 races.
Canepa and Pegram took advantage of the new, shorter off-season testing moratorium this winter and held their first tests of the off-season December 16-17 at Jennings GP in Florida and December 19-20 at NOLA Motorsports Park, near New Orleans. And Canepa came away from the tests with the new lap record at Jennings GP (a 1:12.3, beating Ben Bostrom’s 1:13.0 from 2012) and a positive first impression of the EBR.
“I said, ‘Wow! It’s good. I like it.’” recalled Canepa. “It’s special because it’s really light and it turns really fast because of the single brake in the front. The corner speed is unbelievable. For sure we are going to improve some things a little bit, [and] also I will have ideas when we test in Europe with the other Superbikes [in January]. The rules changed from last year, so I have to check what level are the other bikes, because I still don’t know, but I was very surprised that the bike was so good and worked very well.”
Canepa said another positive factor in his decision to join Team EBR Hero was the unique structure of the team with Pegram as his teammate and team manager.
“I’m really happy to work with Larry,” said Canepa. “I knew his name but not as a person, but he is a very good person and a very fast rider, too. It is a pleasure for me to work with him because it’s nice to have a team manager that understands you as the rider. Sometimes I have [had] some team managers who didn’t even know how to turn on the bike, so it was difficult to explain if you have a problem. This will not happen with Larry, because not only is Larry the team manager but he races with me. So he can see me and see what I’m doing. It’s very important for me, I think, because I can show him when I have some problems and he can see that I’m pushing 100%. So it’s really important for me and a nice challenge for him, too. I think he is the best person to do this type of job.”
Canepa is currently spending the holidays with his girlfriend in New York City and plans to return to Europe in January to resume his training program ahead of the next tests at Jerez and Portimao.