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[9th July 2025] P300.it article: Exclusive interview with Celestino Vietti, SpeedRS rider: "The most beautiful victory since I started racing was at Misano"

(Translation: Italian→English)

The 24-year-old, rider for SpeedRS, opened up to our microphones, talking about his journey to Moto2 and his motorcycling career.

Celestino Vietti is one of the young talents raised by Valentino Rossi's VR46 Racing Academy. The number 13 was with us to talk about his journey to the world championship, and also about his experience gained to date with his current team, SpeedRS.

Hi Celestino, thanks for your time. Let's rewind the tape of your carrier; how did you become passionate about motorcycling and about racing in general?

It's all born from a family passion, because especially my dad and my uncle have always been very passionate. They often went to the track with their motorbikes, even if they didn't actually take part in races. Dad did several uphill races [aka "hill climbs"] and from that my older brother, who is four years older than me, started racing. Then, watching him, the longing [/desire/craving] to have a minimoto also came to me and from that moment my whole journey began. Let's say that mine is a family of motors [he literally said una famiglia di motori].

You were picked by the VR46 Racing Academy very early, to the extent that you began racing in Moto3 at 17 years old, replacing Nicolò Bulega. Can you tell us some of the background regarding your selection?

It was great, but in my opinion I also had a bit of good luck. In 2015 I raced with the RMU team in the Italian Pre-Moto3 championship and, that very same year, a partnership started between the team and the academy. I was part of a programme with three other Italian riders: Nicholas Spinelli, Bruno Ieraci, and Dennis Foggia. The four of us were being "watched" ["messi 'sott'occhio' "; lit. put "under eye"] by the Academy, to determine whether they should hire any of us. That year I was doing well and also lucky [in relation to his chances to be hired], but it was a good year in itself anyway because I won the championship and at the end of the season received the good news that I would be able to become part of the Academy. I think that it was definitely the greatest opportunity of my whole career, that then allowed me to start my journey towards the world championship. Unfortunatley Nicolò got hurt and I had to replace [/substitute for] him, but I made good use of the opportunity and the next year I was racing in the world championship.

You achieved your first podium at your second ever Moto3 race, at Phillip Island. How did you feel on that day?

For me it was already incredible just to compete in the world championship as a wildcard, because the week before Japan [ed: where he made his debut in 2018], I was in Albacete doing a CEV race and during the weekend Pablo [ed: Nieto] called me and asked my if I had a passport. I replied no and he said to do it immediately, because I was supposed to go to Motegi to do the race. Me and my father were euphoric, I got [/applied for] the passport in a hurry [in fretta e furia; lit. in haste and fury] and flew to Japan. What I remember most of the race in Australia is that on the penultimate lap, when I crossed the finish line, I was second but I didn't know what to do because I hadn't thought that I could fight for the podium. What happened next was unimaginable for me and my dad and we went back home without having yet realised what I had achieved. This result confirmed the fact that this world could actually become my job and from then on we believed in it a little more.

In 2019 you became a factory rider in Moto3 and, after a 2020 where you achieved 2 wins, you went up a category. How did you find being in the saddle of a more powerful and heavier bike in Moto2, at first?

In my opinion the jump from Moto3 to Moto2 is quite important, especially after the regulation changes that brought in the Triumph engine, that changed the riding style, making it more stop-and-go and "big bike" [moto grande. idk what this means honestly]. You have to be very careful with grip and at the "pick-up", something that was already done with the 600 [cc] engine, although it allowed a more "round" [-ed] riding style. It wasn't easy for me: over the years I've seen that those that come from Moto3 need at least one season of learning, except in cases like Acosta and Raul Fernandez who learned how to go fast immediately, because the weight of the bike changes a lot and the inertia in braking is different. It takes at least a year [he said "annetto" which is lit. a little year], but then when you understand the mechanisms [/mechanics] of the bike, like the spin of the tyre on the exit of the corner, it all becomes easier [/smoother. lit. "downhill"].

In 2022 you started very well, winning the first race, but then you went downhill during the second half of the season. In your opinion, what wasn't working?

In retrospect I think that was a year that I really threw away, because opportunities like that don't always happen. Unfortunately I think that I erred from inexperience ["peccato d'inesperienza", lit. sinned by inexperience], I was overtaken by the fear of losing and the anxiety that they would catch up to me during the race, and it went much worse than before. I started well, but during the year they all improved and the level stabilised a bit. I probably should have been satisfied with [/settled for] finishing P5 or P6 on more occasions, maybe managing to keep my gap to the others, and not like at the beginning of the season, when I was always on the podium. It needed a little more calm and levelheadedness ["calma e testa", lit. calm and head] that I didn't have, but this experience taught me a lot. It helped me not to panic when I'm a little bit behind and to be calmer. The next year, for example, we saw it with Ogura, who in my opinion is the best at [doing] this. The championship is long and it's better to finish fifth, seventh or eighth, rather than retiring or otherwise getting zero or finishing 12th because of [over]enthusiasm and mistakes. Unfortunately I understood this too late and if I had made better use of that year then, probably, it would have given me something more.

The best memory that you have of that season?

Definitely Qatar was special. During the winter I didn't have the best time, because from my point of view I had a different outlook on things than others at home and there was conflict [/clashes; "scontri"]. After that win I removed the thorns from my side ["mi tolsi qualche sassolino dalla scarpa" lit. i took several stones out of my shoe - this idiom is usually in the singular] and convinced myself even more that I was right, but then over the course of the year I realised that people tell you something that might be "uncomfortable", but in the end they do it for your own good. Unfortunately I'm a bit stubborn ["di coccio"; lit. 'of earthenware', Rome dialect slang] and I only realised later that it was advice, but then I started paying for it ["il conto è arrivato", the bill arrived] and I started taking hits ["prendere diverse scoppole"].

In 2023 the VR46 team became Fantic Racing. How was this transition for you, even keeping several staff members that you were already working which or that you had worked with before?

From a certain point of view it was a big change, because part of the organisation of the team changed, including some of the points of reference that I had since I started racing in the world championship, and so it was the first time that I felt, in part, "away from home", but from the personal point of view it was good because it makes you grow and you're not always in the same "bubble". You meet new people and have new input, trying to take the best from everything that comes to you. Of course it surprised me a bit, but most of the people that I had around me were the same. From that point of view I think that things changed a bit more the year after when I arrived in Ajo, where I got to know people that I had never worked with before. Everything changed there, including the interaction with the team; in fact I often had to explain myself in English, so that was a big jump on the personal level that did me good.

What positive sides did you take from your experience with the Aki Ajo team?

I'm really happy to have been able to work with them and with Aki, because I think he really is a motorsport man. It's not a coincidence that his team have won all these championships. He wants to win and if he believes in you it's a fantastic thing. He managed to convince me of the fact that I could win and he gave me a big hand in handling difficult moments, when I had anger and tension in my body, making me believe more in myself. Several times he gave me a vigorous boost ["mi dava la carica in maniera vigorosa"; lit. he gave me the charge (or charged me up, as in battery charge) in a vigorous manner] before a round, almost as if he believed more than I did. So, from Assen onwards, he made me change my mentality and I became really competitive. Inside the box the level is very high and they all work very well, so it was a good stage [of my career] in my opinion.

With them you achieved your first success in Italy since racing in the world championship. How did it feel to win at home for the first time?

It had never happened to me before and it was so beautiful. I think that it was one of most beautiful wins since I started racing, because until the last metre I didn't know that I had won the race. It was also fantastic because my whole family was there and a lot of people coming from my little village, and also liberating because I could give them this great satisfaction live [/in person]. Mugello is always Mugello, because we're in Italy and it's the home race, but I live ten minutes from Misano and we were all incredibly proud, even Valentino Rossi who was there and was super happy.

After the past year with Ajo you landed in your new team, SpeedRS. How were you welcomed when you arrived? How do you get along with them and your teammate Alonso López?

Like I said before, going to Aki's team made me grow a lot, but returning to an Italian team is always nice. I felt good immediately, also because with the guys on the team I almost always feel on the same wavelength. Even with Luca Boscoscuro, who from the outside I expected to be tougher, I realised as I got to know him more that he also is a person who has a will to win that probably not everyone has. It feels taken for granted, but when you arrive in a team where you understand that the objective is only to win, you work to obtain the best result possible, setting the superfluous aside. Here I found a group who has a lot of hunger and we got on well immediately: the bike is very competitive because last year they were always ahead and won. The feeling was good from the start and we have achieved several objectives, even though we had a slight drop, but we're realising a few things. I get on very well with them, even with Alonso who, as an opponent, didn't seem to me like someone who had the same ideas [as me], but he is very nice; we really laugh a lot in the team. It's great to arrive at races with a smile and not with an always-very-serious mood [/an atmosphere that is always very serious].

Have you reunited with any of your ex-colleagues?

Yes. I'm back together with my old telemetrist [data engineer], Enrico Matri, who I've always worked with except my first year in Moto2 and the year with Ajo. With him just one glance is enough and we understand each other immediately, and on a race weekend that is super important, because there can be tense moments with very little time at your disposal. A bond [/connection] like that helps you to be more efficient and makes everything more intuitive.

Earlier you mentioned the feeling with the Boscoscuro, that you found almost immediately, but in general how has it been to change from the Kalex?

It wasn't super easy straight away because I was coming from several years on the same bike, so I had to adapt. But at the same time, from the first round, I understood that the potential was very high because the bike was made really well. Many times you almost don't understand where the limit is because it really allows so much, but it can make you overdo it. For example, sometimes when I feel good with the front, I overdo the entry and ruin the exit of the corner or I struggle [with it], but I felt good [with the bike] straight away. The bike is different, but it makes you realise straight away that you can behave a little how you like, because it lets you. Then it's up to us to balance ourselves out against it. Maybe we have had a little bit of a drop lately (which was also because it took us a little more time to understand the new rear tyres), but I think that the test in Barcelona helped us a lot on that side of things. Mugello, actually, was a good weekend, and we can still improve.

Speaking of the Pirelli tyres: how have you got on with those?

Very good. It was an important step for the category. Not solely for the [lap] times - because if you all have the same tyres then if you go a second slower the situation will also be similar for the others - but also in terms of the feeling and of safety. In past years, actually, there were a lot of falls and lots of people said that they didn't understand why they ended up on the floor - especially in difficult conditions, like Le Mans or Australia, with the cold, you would slip a lot and it became almost dangerous to turn [/to ride, "girare"]. With these tyres the management of the race distance is a little more difficult, because you can't push at 200%, always [at] the same [level], the way you could with the previous tyres, but now there is a bit more caution, which however does actually help you in a possible future in MotoGP, because it gives you more of an idea about tyre management. Then you push harder and get to the limit more easily and that helps you to be more diverse [/varied] in your riding style, without just following a single blueprint as before.

Let's stay on the technical side: did you immediately understand the new tyre model or did you need some time?

Honestly I felt quite good straight away. Maybe I struggled a little more at managing the rear grip, having to understand how to make it drift [/slide] in the exit of the corner with this new type of grip [he said "aderenza" this time - could be translated as adhesion. more to do with the tyre's properties]. But then once you get the mechanism into your head it's quite intuitive.

At Mugello you came close to the podium, finishing P5. Did you have any regrets at the end of the race - and if yes, about what?

The only regret that I had was that of starting too calmly, because with the tyre managment I had wanted to adopt a less aggressive approach. I had Gonzalez in front of me and my objective was to start to follow him once he had increased the pace, because I knew that he was the fastest. In doing this, though, I was always one or two positions behind him, in the belly of the group, and when I was in 6th a contact with Salač sent me off the track, in fact, making me lose a lot of time. From there on it all got complicated because the track was hot and I had to manage the tyres, and then being in the slipstream of others it became even more difficult because it really heats up the front and you struggle to manage it. So the biggest regret is that from the first laps I could have pushed a bit more and [then] managed in the middle part of the race, but I did the opposite and at the end I was only on the verge of the podium [at all] because they [ed: Moreira and Canet] impeded ["disturbato"; also disturbed/interrupted] themselves.

Do you think that you could have caught [up with] them with a different approach, or not?

More than anything, if I hadn't sustained that contact, I would have been able to stay in the first three positions and gap the others ["creare un gap sugli altri"]. Maybe Gonzalez had a bit more than me, but with Arenas it was possible to actually fight.

Let me ask a personal question: do you have a [secret] dream ["un sogno nel cassetto"; lit. a dream in the drawer]?

The first that comes to mind is to one day be world champion. I don't [/won't] set myself a [specific] category, because it's very difficult to achieve this feat. The biggest dream is to be world champion in MotoGP, because that means that in that year you are the strongest rider in the world on a two-wheeled machine, so that is the ideal dream. But we start from the bottom, so [therefore/let's say] I would like to be world champion in a motorsport category.

Three adjectives to describe you off-track?

Nice, a pain in the neck*, and stubborn. *“rompiscatole”, literally a box-breaker, polite/euphemistic form of ball-breaker (rompicoglioni; closest to "pain in the ass") or other similar vulgar terms, can also be translated as a nuisance or a bother

Notes on the translation: I tried to be a bit more literal with this translation just to preserve the actual words he used because I am not a very talented or practiced translator, so if anything sounds a little awkward that is because I kept it closer to the Italian way of saying things instead of trying to change it and only preserving the sense. Any awkwardness is (mostly) mine and not Cele's lmao. Italic square brackets are my notes, including alternative translations for some words and some quotes direct from the Italian where he used a specific phrase. Non-italic square brackets are either editors notes from the article (with "ed:"), or words that weren't really in the original but which were implied/intended, where in English a word would be added to carry the same meaning. Speech marks are the article's original - presumably just to convey tone or where he used metaphors/figurative speech. Please feel free to ask about any specific sentences or words, or correct errors.

Thank you to Cate @anitalianfrie for a little help with idioms :)

#Y: 2025 #interviews

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