Nazionale Piloti (National Drivers and Riders), whose full name is the World Drivers Association for Solidarity (Onlus) was created in 1981 thanks to the sporting director Mario di Natale, and the team captain, Riccardo Patrese. I don’t remember exactly when they asked me to take part, it must have been around ten years ago now, but it was Mario and Riccardo who asked me directly. The idea appealed to me immediately because of its total transparency and immediacy, given that it wasn’t the normal way of doing things. It was more of an impersonal way to do something for good causes, but it required a direct and long term involvement, and the results were there to see.

They were tangible and concrete, and at the end of every evening you knew that a certain amount would be passed on to various charities. Meanwhile it also involved my second great passion after motorcycles: soccer.
From that moment on I have taken part in all the matches that don’t clash with the MotoGP championship: as it was borne out of the F1 drivers association it tends to follow the four-wheel calendar rather than that of MotoGP, so a lot of times their free Sundays are exactly the same as those we race on. It’s always been a great experience for me, which is made all the better because I enjoy it. I play on the right-side of midfield, the same position I played when I was a kid in my local team and the players I gel with best are Giancarlo (Fisichella), Michael (Schumacher) and Giorgio (Pàntano), because they are skilful and can play very well too. The match fixtures are decided throughout the year, and try to accommodate everyone, because there isn’t any kind of fixed calendar of the various events. However here on the site from time to time you will be able to find announcements of the various matches which are taking place or, by clicking on the icon of the ‘tricolore’ helmet, you will be taken directly to the site of Nazionale Piloti.

One of the games that moved me most was the game we played last year in Latina, because there were around 10,000 people in the “Francioni” stadium, a complete sell-out. It was dedicated to the association for the fight against Leukaemia which my cousin Fiorella and I had begun in the honour of Andrea, his son and my cousin, who was unable to win his battle against the disease.