Lorenzo Lanzi - 2006 Rider Profile

Personal Stats

Career Stats

Bio In Brief

24-year-old Lorenzo was born in Cesena, Italy in 1981 and first competed on Italian circuits in the 125 Sport class in 1996 at the age of 15. Two years later he won the championship and one year after that he moved up to the 125GP class, taking tenth in the Italian Championship and twelfth in the European Championship. He also had his first taste of world championship action with a wildcard entry in the Italian GP at Mugello. In 2000 he moved up to the 250GP class and by taking seventh in the Italian Championship and ninth in the European Championship clearly showed that he was destined for a bright future.

His move to the 250 World Championship Grand Prix series in 2001 saw him compete in all sixteen rounds of the series. He finished 20th overall in the standings with thirteenth in Estoril and Phillip Island his best result, but it wasn't a successful season. He returned to his home country disappointed but determined to return competitive. Although Lanzi didn't take part in a single race in 2002, his exploits hadn't gone unnoticed.

Ducati Corse team manager Davide Tardozzi first saw Lanzi race in the 125GP Championship in Italy and then followed his progress in the 250GP World Championships and decided to place him in Rossano Innocenti's Rox Ducati Superstock team in 2003. Lanzi won four rounds and finished on the podium twice more but just lost out in a nail-biting battle for the title with Suzuki's Michel Fabrizio by three points. With his performances that year the young Italian's meteoric rise continued as he was promoted into the factory Ducati squad for the World Supersport championship. Riding the black Breil-sponsored 749, Lorenzo scored a string of fourth place finishes, just missing out on the podium every time, and finishing fifth overall in the 2004 championship.

As a Ducati Corse-contracted rider, Lorenzo's first contact with Superbikes came at the end of the 2004 season when he was rewarded for his Supersport performances with a wild-card participation in the final round of the AMA championship, North America's premier domestic racing series. Lorenzo ran near the front with the AMA regulars in both races at VIR and just missed out on the podium. Lorenzo Lanzi started the 2005 season aboard a Ducati 999F04 with the satellite Scuderia Caracchi team, but he struggled to get to grips with the new bike and unfamiliar Pirelli tyres in the early races, giving little hint of things to come. A broken collarbone caused by a crash in the Valencia round caused him to miss his home race at Monza, but Lorenzo was top 6 material half-way through the championship and this was followed by his brilliant end-of-season run.

Lorenzo Lanzi earned his place in this year's Ducati Xerox Team following a sensational burst of form that netted him two wins in the closing rounds of the 2005 World Superbike championship. Called into the factory squad as replacement for the injured Regis Laconi at the Eurospeedway, Lanzi made the most of his opportunity by setting pole position first time out on the 999 F05 and then picking up his maiden win in race 2. He then proved that this performance was no fluke by taking a second win in the final race of the season at Magny-Cours, again on a factory Ducati with Xerox logos but this time run out of the Scuderia Caracchi team garage.