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He's always dressed in black, but not because black is slimming. In fact, at 72, Enrico Zanarini looks 15 years younger. Black just his trademark. We don't remember ever seeing him wear any other color and, for a long time, when we followed the F1 at Corriere dello Sport, we often met up.
From a certain point of view, he's the antithesis of Pernat: he plays sports, doesn't drink coffee, and indulges in a glass of wine only from time to time.
But why are we talking about him? Because, as of today, Enrico is Enea Bastianini's new manager. Our Carletto (we'll be hearing him tonight in our LIVE broadcast) had told us about it recently, when he revealed that his health condition will no longer allow him to follow the MotoGP on a regular basis.
But who is Zanarini? Quite simply, a long-time manager who assisted drivers of the caliber of Eddy Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella and, more recently, Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi. But he also was advisor to Alex Zanardi, Alberto Tomba and, briefly, Max Biaggi during the hot years of his rivalry with Rossi.
"It was a rivalry like Virtus-Fortitudo, like Roma-Lazio," he recalled, speaking about the Roman. Then, about Tomba, he said: "They asked me to give him a hand in managing sponsors. I would've worked even for free for him. He was my idol. But we didn't continue. We had different visions. It lasted a short time, but it was one of the greatest moments of my life. We're still friends. Alberto moved crowds. I've never seen anything like that."
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, he told us about the Irish driver's legendary parties after the race debriefings: "The plane always had to be ready on Sundays .We'd take off to go for a night out, even very late, to a disco in Italy, France or Spain."
Now, he's going to be at Enea's side. Compared to the last professionals he assisted, Enea is basically a quiet guy.
It could be a coincidence, but the world of two wheels continues to welcome managers from other sports. Recently, Massimo Rivola came from the F1. Instead, Diego Tavano, Di Giannantonio's manager, used to work in soccer. A generational change is taking place even if, in Enrico's case, we're really talking about a long-time manager. Now, we expect to see him in KTM's garage, although we doubt he'll ever wear orange!
