Chairman of the Organising Committee
Stefano Zuban
Email: stefano@catea.com
Organising Secretariat: +39 040 2820014 (Mariangela)
Partner: Club dei Venti all’Ora – Trieste
Moto Club Pino Medeot
Moto Club Pino Medeot Gorizia traces its origins back to 1923, when the area’s first motorcycle association was established as a section of the Audax Gorizia sports club. In 1928, the club submitted its first application for affiliation to the Italian Motorcycling Federation (FMI) under the name Moto Club Gorizia. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it organised numerous speed races, regularity competitions and motorcycle rallies.
In the years immediately following the Second World War, within the ranks of Moto Club Mossa, a versatile rider who had begun his career in dirt-track racing, before moving into road racing, qualified for the 1950 national finals aboard a Gilera Saturno. His name was Pino Medeot. Driven by his passion for racing, he travelled to Bondeno to compete in a qualifying event that he did not actually need to enter the finals. During the race, a mechanical failure on the motorcycle of a lapped competitor caused a serious accident in which Pino Medeot lost his life. Later that same year, Moto Club Mossa and Moto Club Gorizia joined forces and renamed the association in honour of the late rider from Mossa.
Under its new name, the club became one of the leading forces in off-road regularity competitions, a discipline that flourished throughout the 1960s and 1970s before evolving into modern Enduro. It has remained at the forefront of regional competition ever since, while continuing to organise events throughout the area, including national-level championships.
Within the club’s touring division, members regularly participate in FIM Rallies. Particularly noteworthy is the GOmotoGO cross-border motorcycle rally, organised jointly in Gorizia and Nova Gorica in collaboration with AMD Gorica. Today, the club looks firmly towards the future by encouraging young motorcyclists, while continuing to preserve the history and traditions of one of Italy’s oldest and most distinguished motorcycle clubs.
Read the full history on our website: https://www.motoclubpinomedeot.it/
Moto Club Trieste was founded in 1906 — one of the first motorcycle clubs in Europe — and has remained active to the present day, with interruptions only during the two World Wars. Established during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Administration, it officially registered its name as “Associazione Motociclistica Triestina” with the competent authorities (the Imperial Royal Lieutenancy of Trieste) in September 1907, when its Founding Act and Statutes were approved. These documents are preserved in the State Archives of Trieste. After the First World War and the annexation of Venezia Giulia to Italy, the Moto Club was re-established in 1919 within the multisport association U.S. Triestina, before becoming an independent member, about a year later, of the Moto Club d’Italia, the federation that existed at the time.
From its earliest years, the association brought together motorcycle enthusiasts from the areas of Gorizia, Trieste and Istria, who regularly gathered for the first adventurous motorised tours and numerous races, including nationally significant events such as the Carso Circuit and the Isonzo Circuit, based on timed trials over considerable distances. The club also served as a stage base for major point-to-point races organised in northern Italy and promoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport. Other highly popular events of this early period were the “Chilometro Lanciato” competitions, organised by the Trieste club and also hosted in Veneto and Friuli. In 1920, Moto Club Trieste introduced the hill-climb speed race “Trieste-Poggioreale del Carso”, better known as the Trieste–Opicina Motorcycle Race, which was held until 1933 over ten editions and attracted many of the leading national riders of the era. The event returned after the Second World War with two further editions in 1947 and 1948. The Dirt Track races, a form of long-track Speedway, achieved great popularity and were held at the Montebello Racecourse two or even three times a year. Usually, one event had interregional significance and another reached international level, attracting specialists from Austria, Bohemia, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland and Hungary, as well as Italian riders. The golden age of Trieste Dirt Track, always followed by large crowds, lasted from 1928 to 1951. During the 1930s, Moto Club Trieste co-organised, together with Moto Club Isonzo of Monfalcone, the national speed race “Circuito di Redipuglia“, a round of the Italian Championship. In 1939, the club organised the city circuit race “Circuito di Trieste“, featuring several national champions.
Like other sporting and cultural associations, Moto Club Trieste had experienced state control and militarisation imposed by the Fascist regime (from 1937, under the Italianised name “Associazione Motociclistica Triestina”), but after the Second World War, during the period of the Free Territory of Trieste under Allied Military Government administration (1945–1954), it was re-established and became one of the first clubs affiliated with the new Italian Motorcycle Federation (FMI), itself re-established in 1946 in Montecatini after previously being known as the “Reale Federazione Motociclistica”. On that occasion, thanks to its recognised seniority and the particular attention surrounding the “Trieste Question”, Moto Club Trieste was awarded FMI membership number 0001, a distinction it still holds today.
In the post-war period, local motorcycling also benefited from the strong economic recovery in Italy, which particularly favoured the motorcycle industry, a leading force in the first major expansion of motorised mobility and in the rapid spread of lightweight motorcycles and scooters. Moto Club Trieste became particularly active, supported by a large membership base, in touring, recreational, social and sporting activities. Alongside numerous and well-attended regularity competitions, the Trieste–Opicina race and the Montebello Dirt Track events were revived. The club also organised speed races such as the “Circuito di San Giusto”, better known as the “Circuito di Sant’Andrea“, and the “Circuito di Riva Traiana“. From 1950 onwards, it also organised the popular “Gimkana di San Giusto“, held in the Courtyard of the Militia within the city castle, a spectacular and entertaining event that continued until the 1980s.
With the crisis in the motorcycle market beginning in 1957, coinciding with the arrival of the first small economy cars, motorcycling entered a difficult period and remained a sport followed mainly by true enthusiasts. It was during this phase that a “Trieste generation” of speed riders emerged, encouraged by the support of a patron such as Piero Ostuni. Among them were Alfredo Suspize, Bruno Rustia, Luigi Rinaudo, Gilberto Parlotti, Claudio Loigo and, shortly afterwards, Aldo Però. Despite financial difficulties and long journeys, they achieved remarkable results, almost always competing as private riders. Parlotti became Italian speed champion three times (1969 and 1970 in the 50cc class, and 1971 in the 125cc class), winning numerous international races and several Grands Prix, including in higher engine categories. Rinaudo also worked as a test rider, Loigo became an official Laverda Endurance rider, and Però won the Italian Junior Championship in 1970.
With the commercial revival around 1970, off-road disciplines experienced major growth, and dozens of young riders approached off-road regularity competitions (later known as Enduro) and Motocross every year.
Moto Club Trieste, in collaboration with Moto Club Duino, introduced the off-road race “Coppa del Carso”, which later became the “Enduro del Nord-Est“, a classic event in the discipline for more than thirty years. Numerous local riders achieved important results in these disciplines, reaching increasingly higher levels and distinguishing themselves nationally. In 1978, Renzo Bensi won the Italian Junior Enduro Championship in the premier class. Following his example, many riders from the area went on to achieve national success. During those years, Moto Club Trieste issued more than sixty racing licences annually across various disciplines. The 1970s also saw the creation of an active “Trial Section“, which organised a major Triveneto competition every year.
In addition, a large Touring Section regularly took part in motorcycle rallies and international events, always achieving excellent results. Moto Club Trieste also included a Recreational Section, a seven-a-side football team, and an “Alpine Section” based in the province of Pordenone.
