One should not mention the legendary circuit of Imola without first mentioning the one name most important to the circuit and motorcycle racing at Imola: Costa.

You know the name from Dr Claudio Costa, famed doctor to the riders in Grand Prix and World Superbike through his Clinic Mobilia. But in Imola, where Costa is based, he simply is known as "Checco's Boy".

Claudio's father, Checco Costa, usually gets credit for creating the Imola circuit--he and some friends did in the 1940s-- but he did hold the first motorcycle races there in the 1950s (motocross as it was known then, but more a dirt track TT-style race as we know it today). However, Checco Costa was a force in creating the Imola circuit and perfecting its layout when asphalt was finally poured in the mid-1950s.

For the next thirty years he organized and promoted races at Imola, including the 1974 Imola 200, Kenny Roberts' first ever race in Europe.

There's racing in the DNA of the Costa family, and also in the ground under the Imola circuit. In 80BC, Romans raced chariots there in an amphitheater setting.