Giancarlo Falappa

Giancarlo Falappa (born 30 June 1963) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer. He was nicknamed the Lion of Jesi because of his fearsome riding style.

Motorcycle racing career Falappa was born in Filottrano in the Province of Ancona and then moved to Jesi with his family. He began his racing career in motocross before making the switch to road racing in 1988. In , he moved up to the Superbike World Championship riding for Bimota, winning three races and finishing the season in sixth place. Falappa moved to the Ducati team in . His best result was a fourth-place finish in the season and a fifth place in the season (winning seven races, including the season's first three).

In , Falappa crashed while testing a factory Ducati 916 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, including the last race he ever competed in.

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1989 Bimota GBR17 GBR1 HUN9 HUN4 CANRet CAN1 USARet USARet AUT13 AUTRet FRA5 FRA1 JPN4 JPN3 GERRet GER2 ITARet ITADNS AUS AUS NZL NZL 6th 139 1990 Ducati SPA5 SPA2 GBR7 GBR1 HUNRet HUN7 GER3 GER4 CANRet CANDNS USA USA AUTDNS AUTDNS JPN JPN FRA FRA ITA ITA MAL MAL AUS AUS NZL NZL 11th 94 1991 Ducati GBR14 GBRRet SPARet SPARet CAN CAN USA7 USARet AUTRet AUT7 SMR10 SMR6 SWE6 SWE13 JPN10 JPN11 MAL6 MALRet GER6 GER3 FRARet FRA8 ITA6 ITARet AUS AUS 9th 113 1992 Ducati SPA4 SPA5 GBR16 GBR8 GER19 GER3 BEL4 BEL2 SPA3 SPA7 AUT1 AUT1 ITA3 ITA2 MAL6 MAL4 JPNRet JPN6 NED8 NED1 ITA12 ITA6 AUS5 AUSRet NZLRet NZL1 4th 279 1993 Ducati IRL1 IRL1 GER1 GER3 SPARet SPARet SMR1 SMR1 AUT6 AUT1 CZE5 CZERet SWE2 SWE3 MALRet MALRet JPN5 JPNRet NEDRet NED7 ITARet ITA1 GBRRet GBR5 POR4 POR4 5th 255 1994 Ducati GBR5 GBR4 GERRet GER4 ITA2 ITA1 SPA SPA AUT AUT INA INA JPN JPN NED NED SMR SMR EUR EUR AUS AUS 15th 74