INTERVIEW
P74
JAMES RISPOLI
H
ard work, dedication—the key
ingredients for success. As
the two-time AMA Supersport
Champion James Rispoli puts in
the work to rehab his shoulder from
a recent surgery at the Rockwell
Training Facility in Wildomar,
California, you can see those
words in bold, on his forearm.
They are words to live by if you
want to win championships. And
yes he has a couple of those
already under his belt from the
development class in the former
U.S. national road race series,
AMA Pro Road Racing. But now
Rispoli has his eyes on a World
Championship, by way of the
United Kingdom: the British
Superbike Series.
So the 23-year-old packed his
bags, left Florida and headed to
the not-so-sunshine "state" of
England, to compete in the BSB
Supersport class for Team Traction
Control.
Rispoli's rookie year was a
tale of two seasons: a rough first
half, but thankfully, a much better
second half that included a couple
podiums.
"The first half of the season
I don't really call it a season,
but without the beginning of the
season we wouldn't have the
second half of the season or even
2015 to even think about," Rispoli
says. "Sometimes you've got to
take the good with the bad. I was in
a really tough spot, and to struggle
that much over there was very hard
on me. It was also very hard to
live over there and deal with it by
myself, but it all worked out in the
end."
Making it through the hard times
paid off and it all started to come
together.
"It was tough, but a relief at the
end of the year knowing that we
did well enough," Rispoli says. "I
got to show my potential, I got to
understand the tracks and I got to
show it at the right time. Contract
RISPOLI'S READY TO REAP THE
REWARDS OF A TOUGH LEARNING YEAR
IN BRITISH SUPERSPORT
GROWING PAINS
BY ANDREA WILSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON AND IMPACT IMAGES
