Giancarlo Falappa (born 30 June 1963) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

former professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

.Giancarlo Falappa career World Superbike statistics at worldsbk.com
He was nicknamed the ''Lion of Jesi'' because of his fearsome riding style.

Motorcycle racing career

Falappa was born in

Filottrano Filottrano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ancona in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona. Filottrano borders the following municipalities: Appignano, Cingoli, Jesi Jesi () is a ''comune'' (municipa ...

in the

Province of Ancona The province of Ancona () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ancona, and the province borders the Adriatic Sea. The city of Ancona is also the capital of Marche. To the north, the province ...

and then moved to

Jesi Jesi () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche. It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the left (north) bank of the Esino river, before its mouth on the Adria ...

with his family. He began his racing career in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

before making the switch to road racing in 1988. In he moved up to the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

riding for

Bimota Bimota is an Italian manufacturer of custom and production motorcycles. It was founded in 1973 in Rimini by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini. The company name is a portmanteau derived from the first two letters of each of ...

, winning 3 races and finishing the season in sixth place. Falappa moved to the

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...

team in . His best result was a 4th-place finish in the season and a 5th place in the season (winning 7 races, including the season's first 3). In , Falappa crashed while testing a factory

Ducati 916 The Ducati 916 is a fully faired sport bike made by Ducati from 1994 to 1998. Featuring a fuel injected, 4-valve, desmo, liquid-cooled, 90° V-twin engine in a trellis frame with a single-sided swingarm and USD forks, the 916 is frequently cit ...

and suffered serious head injuries. After being in a lengthy coma, he eventually recovered, but never raced again. He won a total of 16 races in his Superbike World Championship career.

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falappa, Giancarlo 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Jesi Italian motorcycle racers Superbike World Championship riders