In that unfortunate year 2023, there was nothing to do for the snowcross world and the severe lack of rain has resulted in a sports season in which it was possible to count a minimal number of events that had such a significant impact on the outlines of the final Classification that determines the winners and the losers.
Jteam approached this discipline as a luxury rookie, having entrusted the defense of its colors to a champion of undisputed worth like Michele Donazzan.
Jumping into the saddle of a new Ski-Doo MXZ 600 RS, Romano d’Ezzelino’s rider had his sights set on the Central Europe Snowcross Trophy as the year’s number one goal.
The new signing of the Bassano del Grappa team started with a good pace in Les Mosses despite some setbacks and managed to archive the Swiss trip with a fourth place in the opening heat and a third place in the second heat.
At the second appointment, the Austrian one in Neukirchen, the Vicenza rider missed returning to the scene on his home snow, that of a Livigno who had two appointments on his plate.
At the end of the Italian weekend, Donazzan collected two fourth places after a long battle for the nobility districts and becoming more and more comfortable with his new adventure companion.
The lack of snow, due to the early arrival of too mild temperatures, forced the organizers of the continental series to continually reschedule the dates, even to the point of raising the white flag and ending with just four regularly contested events.
A context that deprived the top of the Bassanese federation of leadership in CEST and had to be content with fourth place among the members of the Pro Open category.
A photo that was also repeated in the Italian Snowmobile Championship, the top national series for the discipline, with a result that counts another fourth place, in a journey divided into only three stages, that of Les Mosses and two o’clock in Livigno.
“We finish with a fourth place in the European and Italian Championships” – says Donazzan – “after having competed in only three events. It was a season that to say short is still an understatement. We encountered many obstacles, mainly due to weather conditions that were never favorable. We depend on the snow and the way things have turned out this year 2023 the organizers have been way too good at getting us going. After the knee injury three years ago, it was the first year that I felt like I had found my lost rhythm. It’s a shame it all ended so short because I started to ride well and we had found a good setup with our snowmobile. Thanks to Carbofuel, Jteam and everyone who supported us during this mini year. We hope that the next one will be snowier and also bring good results.”
“We arrived excited about this collaboration with Michele” – repeats Giuseppe Battaglia (Jteam President) – “but we can only regret that a season ended prematurely, not because of us. Michele has shown all his worth and we were happy to be at his side in the hope of renewing the partnership for next year.”
