Great story to remember Carlo. Congrats. Now pop a wheelie! MikeV

I believe you are right!

Thanks to all friends!

I know it will be a fenomenal task Carlo, but I REALLY think You should post the letter You "sent" to Your 500 Mono.

ciao
ducadini

Hello, I have a girlfriend as a friend, who has an immense passion, she is the age of my eldest daughter, I talk to her almost every day on whatsup, she has a column where she writes anecdotes and phases of the Italian climbing championship on fb, and she has a lot of respect and esteem, for what little I have done, I am not present on fb, too many philosophers, too many engineers, too many phenomena and champions, but my friend Bianca has the exclusive on my events.
Thanks for saying this for me.

Questa volta non ho dovuto rincorrere nessun pilota o decifrare un' espressione chissà a quale meeting. Questa volta è tutto qui, nero su bianco. Nel motociclismo esistono delle rarità, accoppiate moto-pilota senza eguali, fatti l' uno per l' altra in termini di prestazioni, risultati e fascino. Quando l'intesa è pura simbiosi, io vorrei conoscere quali siano le emozioni della parte umana. Difficilmente ciò lo si ritrova scritto in qualche intervista, e se siamo fortunati a leggerlo come domanda, la risposta che segue è pressoché abbozzata; i piloti sembrano voler tenere certe cose per loro stessi. Così mentre nella pitline scaldano l' altra metà di essi, il loro prolungamento, la parte meccanica ossia il mezzo; basta cogliere uno loro sguardo, un'espressione o un gesto per capire ciò che le loro parole celano. Questa volta però non è così. Carlo Leoncini, pilota, meccanico preparatore e costruttore, scrive una lettera di ringraziamento alla sua fedele e amata Ducati mono 500 con la quale ha vinto ben sette tricolori, l'ultimo proprio pochi giorni fa sul tracciato della Saline- Volterra, spiegandoci a noi privilegiati lettori la loro totale armonia e completa intesa; un amore corrisposto davvero come pochi.
ALLA MIA 500
Augusto Brettoni mi disse in modo semplice una cosa molto giusta: " la moto da corsa un giorno deve trovare la pace".
Io so bene cosa voglia dire questa frase, forse lo sanno più i meccanici dei piloti.
Toccare e ritoccare, e sopratutto alleggerire i componenti interni del motore con assoluta dedizione, facendo attenzione a qualsiasi particolare e curando il dettaglio in maniera ossessiva , togliendo materiali in eccesso per avere anche un centesimo di cavalleria in più , il tutto ripetuto per migliaia di volte, in vista della gara successiva. Solo un meccanico che prepara personalmente il motore capisce questo, ed io, umilmente come Augusto, lo capisco perfettamente. Ma solo quando sono disceso dalla mia moto per l'ultima volta l'ho capito veramente.
Un 500 che col passare degli anni ha vissuto i salti di categoria, arrivando così a competere con moto che hanno la metà dei suoi anni.
Gli assoluti.....quanti ne abbiamo conquistati!
sono ancora vicini nonostante le categorie superiori siano moto molto veloci.
Il cronometro invece ci ha lasciato quasi sempre al primo posto di categoria.
Oggi posso dire di poter essere sollevato perché sono riuscito a darle il giusto riposo, avendo lasciato integra la funzionalità.
Anche se il motore non è più al 100%100 io so che potrebbe lottare in qualsiasi momento per un buon piazzamento. Quasi mai mi ha lasciato a piedi.
Ma adesso è il momento di dire basta e finalmente lo posso dire con il cuore pieno di gratitudine.
Vedo davanti a me una vera belva feroce che mestamente si adagia a terra perché è stanca, ma mai rassegnata ,perché ha ancora dentro di sé la maestosità e la forza di chi potrebbe ancora combattere..... perché lei non si è mai tirata indietro. Io lo so, l'ho costruita pezzo per pezzo. Nella testa l'ho pensata, tra le mie mani ha preso forma. La conosco in ogni dettaglio. So di quale tempra e carattere sia fatta. Io so cosa abbia dentro. Però la scelta spetta a me, solo io posso decidere se il momento è arrivato....e quel momento è arrivato.
Adesso basta, adesso dobbiamo solo ricordare che cosa abbiamo fatto insieme.
Grazie per tutto quello che mi hai dato e per quello che sei.
Carlo Leoncini.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This time I didn't have to chase any driver or decipher an expression at who knows which meeting. This time it's all there, in black and white. In motorcycling there are rarities, coupled motorbike-rider without equal, made for each other in terms of performance, results and charm. When the understanding is pure symbiosis, I would like to know what the emotions of the human part are. This is hardly found written in any interview, and if we are lucky to read it as a question, the following answer is almost sketchy; pilots seem to want to keep certain things to themselves. So while in the pitline they heat up the other half of them, their extension, the mechanical part or the means; it is enough to catch their glance, an expression or a gesture to understand what their words hide. This time, however, this is not the case. Carlo Leoncini, rider, mechanic, preparer and builder, writes a letter of thanks to his faithful and beloved Ducati mono 500 with which he won seven tricolors, the last one just a few days ago on the Saline-Volterra track, explaining us privileged readers their total harmony and complete understanding; a love that is truly repaid like few others.
TO MY 500
Augusto Brettoni told me something very right in a simple way: "the racing bike must one day find peace".
I know what this phrase means so well, maybe more mechanics know than pilots.
Touch and retouch, and above lighten the internal components of the engine with absolute dedication, paying attention to every detail and taking care of the detail in an obsessive way, removing excess materials to have even a cent more cavalry, all repeated for thousands of times , in view of the next race. Only a mechanic who personally prepares the engine understands this, and I, humbly like Augusto, understand it perfectly. But only when I got off my bike for the last time did I really understand.
A 500 that over the years has experienced the leaps in category, thus competing with bikes that are half its age.
The absolute ..... how many have we conquered!
they are still close despite the higher categories being very fast bikes.
The chronometer, on the other hand, has almost always left us in first place in the category.
Today I can say that I can be relieved because I was able to give her the right rest.
Even if the engine is no longer 100% 100 I know he could fight for a good placement at any time. He hardly ever left me on foot.
But now is the time to say enough and finally I can say it with a heart full of gratitude.
I see in front of me a real ferocious beast that sadly lies down on the ground is tired, but never resigned, because she still has the majesty and strength of one who could still fight ..... because she has never pulled back . I know, I built it piece by piece. In her head I thought it, in my hands it took shape. I know it in every detail. I know what temperament and character she is made of. So what do I have inside. But the choice is up to me, only I can decide if the time has come .... and that time has come.
That's enough, now we just have to remember what we did together.
Thank you for all you have given me and for who you are.
Carlo Leoncini.

Introduction and care of the article:
Bianca Lombardi.
I wrote the letter myself.

Magnifico come avete scritto questo, Carlo

ciao
ducadini

That was beautiful Carlo, and obviously heart-felt. I cried at the end of the movie “Old Yeller”, and got a few tears after this. MikeV

Hello Mike, good morning everyone, sorry if I'm a bit choppy in my answers. Yes, I wrote this letter with my heart, addressed to an almost incredible mechanical vehicle, my mono 500, it is, as well as my first racing bike, a very important passage in a period of my life.
At the age of 14, I left compulsory school, and my father gave me the change of baton of his construction company, in partnership with his two brothers, to ensure that the enormous efforts of my father had not been in vain, I could not be a motorcycle repairer mechanic.
My father suffered a lot this choice of him, to direct me to a job that was not done for me, he saw in me, the passion for mechanics, but at that moment there was no other possibility.
I was a house builder, for 25 years, then at 40 I gave up a construction company at full capacity and I began to commit myself to my current job, my mono 500 was the guinea pig, I opened and closed my engine block thousands of times, and each time I humbly learned something more, I could use this experience to fix customers' bikes.
I went through very difficult moments, because I still did not have the maturity and experience of a professional who had a guide or a school.
I have never given up, I have always had my wife Antonella by my side, who even when the money was not enough to raise the children and make them study, she has always encouraged me, telling me that she will be fine.
I have had very difficult moments, many times I have had to bring the problems of my customers, to professional mechanics, paying for them personally, and not being able to make an expense markup, since the amount would have been unfair, because a person who brings you a damaged motorcycle, only has to pay for one repair.
My mono 500 has accompanied me throughout this period, and it is for this reason that I am here to write things for it.

Thanks to all friends, I hope I have written a correct Italian that can be translated.
Carlo.