Pirro gives his verdict on MotorLand

Italian rider worked hard as he replaced injured Iannone in Spain at round 14

Having stepped up to the plate to replace the injured Andrea Iannone on the Friday of the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, it turned out to be a tricky weekend for Ducati Team’s Michele Pirro in Spain. The Italian missed FP1 as Iannone tested his fitness in that session, but after it was deemed the full time Ducati factory rider would play no further part in the Grand Prix, his replacement got a late call up to enter the action.

On Saturday, Pirro qualified down in 17th after a tough QP and on Sunday the race was something of a struggle - for all the Ducati riders. Pirro was unable to make a good start and he crossed the line at the end of the opening lap in 15th place. The Italian then also began to suffer an unusual vibration with his bike, but managed to gain a few positions to finish the race in 12th place.

Michele Pirro (P12): “The weekend was a bit complicated for me. I missed the first session on Friday and we had a few problems on Saturday so I wasn’t able to qualify well and had to start down the grid. The aim in the race was to finish in the top ten but unfortunately the battle in the early stages forced me to make some mistakes in overtaking and from half-way through the race the bike began to have a big vibration. Seeing as I didn’t have a chance of catching the guys ahead of me, I just tried to finish my race. I’m disappointed about the result because in my opinion we had the potential to finish in the top ten.”