Alessio is a MotoGP fan, and also one of Danilo Petrucci’s biggest fans. The Italian rider always had a dream, and that dream was fulfilled when he made a replica of the last MotoGP bike on which “Petrux” raced in the World Championship two seasons ago, the RC16 of the Tech3 team, which is currently the GASGAS factory team in MotoGP.
With this idea in mind, Alessio began to shape his ambition when he bought a 2015 KTM RC8R, one of the last units of this peculiar 1,195 cc twin-cylinder engine with 175 hp of power. When Fabrio Dri, a motorcycle fairing craftsman, met Alessio, it all made sense, and it was then that the two decided to create from scratch a replica of Danilo Petrucci’s RC16 MotoGP bike based on the RC8R, a project that, after several months of work, has finally been presented.
Fabrio Dri is the owner of Kooso Compositi, a company specializing in motorcycle fairings and exclusive decorations; after talking to Alessio and finalizing his idea, Fabrio began to develop the drawings on a blank sheet of paper, a complex job since he had to start from scratch, using only the photographs he had obtained of the RC16 as a reference to guide him.
After several months of work, the replica of the MotoGP fiberglass fairing was complete, but his work wasn’t over. Fabrio Dri also had to imagine and design countless carbon fiber parts, starting with the impressive front wings brought directly from the competition, through to other elements such as the rear swingarm cover, both mudguards, the front airbox inlet – where the headlight is hidden – and many other elements present on the bike.
For the frame, Alessio chose to keep the WP suspension and Brembo brakes from the RC16, enough to enjoy this model on the road. The tubular steel frame remains unchanged, featuring the characteristic tubular shape that has always identified the bikes born in Mattighofen and which still applies today in MotoGP, although now some rectangular sections are mixed in with its tubular frame.
Fabrio Dri introduced with these words what is possibly the bike that took him the longest to develop and of which he is most proud: “This is what happens when your client, who is a big Petrucci fan, comes and tells you that he would like to have a road replica of his last MotoGP bike, starting with a KTM RC8 road bike, but he wants the number “8” because he’s not as fast as Danilo. This work was done over a year ago, but for various reasons I hadn’t published the wonderful photographs that Flashblesst took of my creation. Part of the frame was made from an existing base, but most of it was made from scratch, completely freehand, just like all the carbon parts.
Not satisfied with the final look, Alessio wasn’t convinced by the original exhaust coming out of the bike’s fairing and ended up ordering a complete stainless steel system from the experts at Virex, who reproduced the exhaust pipes from the RC16 MotoGP bike to create a new exhaust system that also complies with noise regulations due to the installation of a Db-Killer.
Believe it or not, Alessio managed to get this RC8GP homologated in his country, Italy, so that it can be ridden on public roads. Of course, it must be fantastic to see Alessio arrive at any motorcycle meeting with this replica painted in the bright orange that KTM used in its pre-GASGAS phase. To sum up, a beautiful dream come true for this unconditional fan of Danilo Petrucci.