with ... Fabio Farioli

Fabio, a new 2011 season full of things to do and expectations. You are the one with the closest contact with the riders and the team so what are your feelings and expectations looking ahead to this season?
This 2011 season is like a new life for us, we have the new generation bikes and also some new riders so in some ways we'll be making a fresh start. But what I can say is that we all have a lot of enthusiasm and if it was up to the riders, they would like to start the season even earlier. They can't wait to compete on their new bikes! 2010 was good for us. We won one of the top titles and we had all the riders on podium. Now this year, like every year, we start with the aim of winning all the titles!
 

The Enduro Factory Team will be developing the new EXC generation on the race track, and especially the new 350 EXC-F Factory. What are your first impressions after the pre-season test?
It's a completely different bike from the last one. We've made a real step into the future with this bike. All the riders were very happy after just a few minutes on the new bike. They already felt faster when compared to the past. Now we are still working, but I can say that we have already reached the next level!


Tell us a bit about the different characters of the three young riders of the team: Remes, Guerrero and Oldrati.
We have the three best young riders currently on the scene. I think they are the future of our sport. They have a different riding style and approach to the race and they also have a different lifestyle. Eero Remes is typically Finnish. He doesn't have too much to say but when he's on the bike it sings for him! He's incredibly fast on the MX tests and now he's much faster in the extreme tests.Cristobal Guerrero is our new rider from Spain. He has always ridden a Japanese bike so he's discovered a new dimension of the sport with our bike and our factory team. He's going to show us how fast he can ride. He's very impressive on hard terrain. Thomas Oldrati comes from Bergamo in Italy so he was born into the world of KTM Enduro. He's really strong on the extreme and difficult Enduro tests because he's used to working hard when he rides at home in Italy because that's where Enduro is really at home!


David Knight and Johnny Aubert are two top riders of different nationalities, extraction, physical size and riding style. Can you summarize the distinctive features of the two?
Both of them are great champions. Both are really talented and are extremely different personalities. I have never known a rider with more passion for motorcycles than David. He is always thinking about bikes and engines, it doesn't matter what kind, as long as they are the ones that use fuel! He has an aggressive style and he's a big physically powerful guy. He does a lot of training in all conditions (sun, rain, fog - even in the dark with a light on his bike and helmet!). And he's very, very fast, especially in a difficult situation. He comes from the Isle of Man, maybe this is the secret?

Johnny never seems to be under pressure and he never looks nervous. He has a smooth style of riding and this makes him incredibly fast in nearly all conditions, even though he might not look crazy on the bike! And he's from France so he knows all about riding in the mud and this makes him very impressive in slippery conditions.

David always works to improve something on the bike or suspension. When Johnny is happy with the setting and the bike he doesn't work on it anymore unless there's a problem. David likes to test the bike two hours before the race; Johnny takes it out five minutes before the start.

They might be very different but I am honored to have these two great champions in our factory team!


Your comments about the 2011 WEC: Which races will be the most important ones for the final result of the season?
When we talk about the Indoor championship, for sure it's Barcelona and the last one, in Portugal. This is where the title will be decided. In the WEC there will be top races again in Spain and Portugal at the beginning of the season. Obviously Italy is very important and there'll be a big show in France for the final races of the season. We also have two new races on the calendar this year, in Romania and Andorra. We are curious…