INTERVIEW: Emanuele Pirro on making Revival history on two wheels

“This is my version of the story,” says Russell, winner of last year’s Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy. “Before the bike races, we have our own briefing before every session. I noticed that there was an Italian gentleman standing at the back of the briefing in his car racing overalls.

“He was very interested in listening to what we were doing, and I worked out who he was. I had to go and say hello to him. At the back of the briefing we started talking, then we bumped into each other a few more times and I realised his love for bikes and it snowballed from there.”

And Russell was right to think that Pirro, famous for competing at the top level of car racing, was curious about competing on a motorcycle. Having raced at Macau many times in the 1980s, he was inspired by what he saw. “It is an extremely challenging circuit for cars, so you can only imagine what it’s like for bikes.”

“I thought it cannot only be craziness, there must be something more to it. And then slowly I got to know some of them and got closer and closer. And then came the offer: would you like to think about having a go?” The only thing I want to do is get on top of the bike, riding the best I can within my abilities. I’m not somebody who has this desire to show how good it is.”

Pirro’s first competitive outing on two wheels came at the 81^st Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport in the single-rider Hailwood Trophv, aboard Russell’s Yamaha TZ250. He ultimately finished 16^th in the combined classifications, in a field of 31 riders. “I don’t want to say it went well, but it was not a disaster,” Pirro evenly reflected. “It went well,” Russell chipped in, knowingly.

At last year’s Revival, Russell won the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy on the Norton when sharing with Michael Rutter. Did that put any pressure on Pirro to perform?

“The pressure I have is not because I’m sitting on a winning bike,” he answered, “because I know my limits very well and respect them. It is a privilege to know I’m riding a good bike and with somebody very good who can tell me what to do and what not to do, so it has been a perfect package to debut in such a competition.”

Russell adjusted his approach to the weekend accordingly, too. “Normally when I race with Michael Rutter, the pressure is different. There’s an expectation to probably be near the front and Michael and me quite like winning occasionally. But with Emanuele, the pressure is in making sure everything is working and that there’s a basis to have a good weekend rather than wherever you finish.”

Having said that, they did pip Dan Jackson and James Hillier to pole, though Russell suggested that was more about friendly gamesmanship than fierce competition. “I saw my friend had pipped us to pole position so I was a bit cheeky. I said, ‘Can I have my bike back, please?’ So, we brought Emanuele in and I did the last two laps to try and get back on the pole. That was more to annoy my friend than any other reason.”

In Part 1 of the race, and in very wet conditions, the duo ended up finishing a remarkable third, with fourth in Part 2 enough to secure the final podium spot in the overall classifications.

“Emanuele won’t believe me, but I thought he did a fantastic job,” Mike praised. “It was so slippery and the bike had a small carburation issue, just on pick of throttle, which made it even worse. And it was the spare bike, which he had never sat on before. He did fantastically. And I still can’t believe we were on the podium and we did the cigar lap!”

Success on the track is one thing, but Pirro has also taken to the two-wheeled community. “I felt that they perceived the respect I had for them, the way I arrived without acting like a star. And I feel they welcomed me really in a nice way, like I’m somehow the younger brothers who just arrived.”

Amid the excitement of the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy, it’s almost easy to overlook the pair’s outing in the Austin-Healey in the Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy, where they finished just outside the top ten.

Here it was Russell’s turn to be out of his comfort zone —though he did have some family experience, having previously tested his skills on four wheels alongside his bike-racing father.

“When he started racing cars he kept saying, ‘Come and do it!’ And I thought, if I don’t race a car with him now, he might get too old to do it. I’ve got to take that opportunity to share a car with my father and do a race together. So I got my licence to have an adventure with my dad, and then a bit more and then I did a bit more and then suddenly you’re knee-deep in cars as well.”

“Now I really enjoy that sort of two and four wheels. My heroes: Hailwood, Surtees, Rossi, Bill Ivy are some of the best bike racers and have done well in cars. I'm a biker at heart, but those are some of my heroes so to try and emulate even one per cent of them would be enough for me.”

After all that, only one question remained: car or bike?

“It’s not fair to answer,” Pirro began, “because by far I’m not on top of the bike as much as I am on top of the car. With the car, very often I feel I could have done a better job in this corner, but never I feel ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ With the bike, I’m not at this level by far.”

Russell didn’t hesitate: “I generally say my favourite is whatever I've just got off, but actually the Manx Norton that we’re sharing — my daughter calls it the other child, and she thinks it’s my first love. I’ve been privileged to ride that bike at some of the best events, and I’ve done some really silly things on that motorbike. It has always looked after me. It has a special place in my heart.”

That podium finish in the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy was still to come at the time of our chat, and I left them deciding amongst themselves who would be doing the Le Mans start...

Photography by Toby Whales, Joe Harding and Charlie Brenninkmeijer.