By profession, a friend of a MotoGP rider: "You eat his anger"

• Interview Fabio Quartararo: "I've won since I understood that I can't always be angry"

At the age of 16 or 17, every World Cup pilot leaves his parents' house to enroll in a circus where he must live with his rivals, with the leaders who will decide his career, with the sponsors who will pay him and with another handful of strangers , from mechanics to journalists.

Perhaps he will be accompanied by a family member, he will normally be alone.

All over the world, from Indonesia to the United States, in the victories and, above all, in the defeats.

Only.

That is why the most normal thing is that, when he reaches MotoGP and even before, when he already has a name in Moto2, that rider hires a friend as an assistant to help him, to support him at all times, to talk to him and, much more important, to listen to you.

He is not a psychologist, nor is he a prop: he is the friend.

A figure so established in the championship that only one driver in the highest category,

, dispenses with his comforts.

"Riders don't have many friends and it's hard for them to trust because they don't know what interests someone who approaches them has. That's why they need someone they trust by their side. The basic thing is to prepare the helmet, the boots, the gloves, the suit and, in general, organize the box. Then there are assistants of many kinds. There are those who also help with the agenda, with the interviews; there are those who are training partners...",

, son of the legendary

, tells EL MUNDO

, who in 2014 he played a season in Moto2 and, when he was left without a team, he went to work as

's 'assistant'

.

Today he is the team leader of LCR Honda, after years of "good life" as an assistant: "You travel all over the world, you get paid and you live off the bikes, which is what you like. But not everything is rosy. There are pilots that demand much more than others, you also have to eat their shit. When a pilot finishes 20th, he arrives at the garage and his anger is eaten by you.

The legacy of 'Uccio'

For many years, the figure of the assistant surrounded the pilots, but it did not become official until

dazzled .

Where the Italian was, there was

, his classmate in kindergarten, as a support, also an escort, as his cable to the ground.

Like so many other things in MotoGP, Rossi was imitated by the following generations to the stars of today.

Today

is accompanied by

, a motocross rider who gave up his career to be an assistant;

is helped by

Thomas

, his only childhood friend in Nice;

is cared

for by

, who started out as his press officer.

Motorcycling.

Signature: MOTOGP.

Fabio lt;HIT gt;Quartararo lt;/HIT gt;

and his assistant, lt;HIT gt;Tom lt;/HIT gt;

MaubatWORLD

In some cases, the assistant's salary is paid by the factory itself, although it is usual for the factory to take care of travel and accommodation and for the pilot to enter the payroll.

That yes, the only thing that the brands usually ask for is that the assistants do not get into controversy, that is why several current MotoGP assistants kindly rejected the questions of this newspaper.

"It's a good job, but it's also very demanding. You're with a person who if he has a good day he'll celebrate with you and if he has a bad day he'll pay for it with you. From February to November you're always traveling... he has his things. I was studying to take the exam and, from one week to the next, when my brother Iker signed for MotoGP, my parents told me: 'It's your turn'. It was a hard change of life: living in Andorra, working for and for my brother...", assures

, assistant to

, MotoGP rider from 2019 to 2021, who provides a friendly experience.

Although the MotoGP riders are always at odds with each other, their assistants maintain an atmosphere of camaraderie: "They live with more tension, but we have always gotten along well with each other. Last year I had a very good relationship with the

's assistant

, who was my brother's teammate, and if I saw someone else who needed help, I would help them without thinking, of course."

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