Giacomo Agostini lives the coronavirus emergency on the front line. The man from Bergamo experiences the suffering of his city and despite all means and opportunities to move elsewhere during this time, he has decided not to run away, but rather to stay in his beloved and at the time tormented Bergamo.
The great champion of the best guns of the past has always been tenacity and unassailable determination as a racing driver, and when he retired from the sport, he showed that same attitude afterwards. Our colleagues at Sky Sport got in touch with him for a video interview and, as always, the great Giacomo sent a message to everyone who asked about their overall responsibility.
“Terrible. I was gone, but I decided to go back to Bergamo – said Agostini – and locked myself in at home, stay here under ‘house arrest’ because I have all my belongings; this is the house where I lived for many years so I didn’t want to stay away. But the situation is very critical: I have a lump in my throat when I hear the ambulance sirens go by at night. It is a very sad state, especially in Bergamo, the epicenter “.
The former racing driver also commented on the behavior of some of the his fellow citizens, who, despite all recent prohibitions and the appeal to common sense, continue to leave their homes with no real need.
“You’re stupid. It’s not about saying, ‘But only me out there’: Of course it’s only you, because there are other people who, unlike you, respect the rules! I don’t think that’s right. Each of us must make our own personal sacrifice. Together we can win this war “.
Agostini also spoke about the topic of sports stop and in particular MotoGP.
“For someone like me who loves this sport, it brings immense grief. The excitement that the races still give me today, even if I just watch them. Waiting for Sunday to see who wins, who is the best. I miss everything very much, but we have to realize that it was an unimaginable misfortune. With the state of medicine and technology, I never thought that a virus could bring us to our knees. We will be able to defeat it, but at the moment we only see the dead, every day there is only great sadness. We will get out of it, but it will be a long time because when it is over we will not be able to go back to our old habits right away. Even at grands prix and sporting events: we cannot think of bringing tens of thousands of people together because the whole world is in crisis, not just Italy. That’s the big problem: even if the infections start to decline, there will still be sick people, so not only do we have to wait for the transmission to stop, but for everyone to be cured.
At some point, however, the races will resume and Ago is convinced that this stop will not affect the values much.
“Everyone will start at the same level in the sense that they are all a little less in shape than before: Instead of lapping in 1m30s, they will lap in 1m31s; That’s okay, but the best will always win. Then they are all young, that makes the difference. “
Agostini cannot hide that he is also a little scared at this delicate moment and invites everyone to respect the rules.
“Naturally, There is a little fear given the suffering the sick feel and the way we die. But I also have confidence because I locked myself in at home, I respect the rules and everyone should respect them. It is a great sacrifice, but if we do everything together we will get out of this situation, otherwise we will drag the problem out for many more months ”.