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Luca Semprini is no longer with us. He passed away during the night in a hotel room in Brno.
Luca was a friend, long before he became Ducati press officer (in SBK in recent years and in MotoGP from this season), and worked as Superbike reporter for this website for many yers. He was 'our' American in Bologna, as we liked to refer to him good-naturedly, considering his American university education.
Luca was, more simply put, a guy who shared our passion and our path. A road involving unsociable hours, around the world, telling the tales of the fast-moving machines as they moved from one track to the next.
We often shared a cigarette together in the paddock. We laughed. Luca spoke about a trip across the ocean with his skipper father, something he had always dreamed of doing but had not yet found time for. He promised he'd do it the following year. And then we'd have the same conversation the next time around over coffee.
Then there were the work calls, but even then we'd often end up talking about other things. His passion for boxing, or classic works of literature, which even saw him tattoo the famous Dostoevskij quote, beauty will save the world, on his arm.
It didn't need to be saved, just lived and enjoyed and Luca was trying to do just that. He'd sometimes get angry, maybe we'd argue, but ten minutes later it was all behind us, no hard feelings.
Memories run through our minds, little things we cannot put into words. Little things that are painful when we realise they won't return.
We don't know where you are right now, trackside or perhaps looking out to sea. Reading a book or talking boxing. But one way or another we know you're here and always will be.
Godspeed, Luca.
The best thing about Luca Semprini was something Jonathan Rea wrote in a tweet a few years ago, one that linked to an interview of his.
He basically said: when you meet a really good journalist, really good interviews come out of it.
Luca had a talent for this job and when we met for the first time in Rome, the first thing I asked myself was: how is it that someone so good and well-prepared is not yet working in the field, despite wanting to?
He was a real asset to GPone, Luca, and not just for his fluent English, the result of years spent in North Carolina.
He had a nose for news, and knew how to report it.
Something for which he gained respect.
I wasn't surprised then when he told me Ducati had offered him a job in Superbike.
He deserved it and we all congratulated him because GPOne is a starting point, not a finishing point. A port in a storm in times where there are few other references.
Something we are all proud of. Once a #GPOner, always a #GPOners.
This meant that Luca, even now that he was working in MotoGP, having proved himself in Superbike, continued to join in with our internal chats.
Jokes, idle gossip. Work separated from friendship because, and this should be emphasised, Luca was a real professional despite his young age. And I'm not just saying that. Come back to us sooner or later I would tell him. Who knows, as he'd recently told me he wanted to explore new paths. And he would have done, because he wasn't scared of change.
Motorcycling loses a true professional, who grew quickly and would have continued to grow.
I lose a young friend. And I am unable to come to terms with it.
p.s.
