Michele was able to stand out on Friday morning, setting the second fastest time in the first free practice session, behind his weekend teammate Andrea Dovizioso. For a test driver who was competing in his first Grand Prix of the year, facing the pack of permanent drivers who were in their sixth event of the season, it was promising.
The Ducati team had come to carry out a day of testing on Wednesday of the previous week at Mugello, and we put the good performance down to this advantage. At the end of the three free sessions, Pirro was easily qualified for Q2 with the seventh time, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.
During Q2, he again produced a good performance, with the fifth time which earned him fourth position on the grid when Danilo Petrucci was demoted. In the race, however, Michele was eleventh at the end of the first lap, to finish ninth just behind his teammate Jorge Lorenzo and ahead of Andrea Iannone and Tito Rabat.
On a technical level, Pirro's Desmosedici was not the worst off: with 354,7 km/h, it preceded in top speed the other Ducati of Jorge Lorenzo (353,8), Danilo Petrucci (352,9 ), Alvaro Bautista (352,5) and Andrea Dovizioso (352,3). Incidentally, the record set in 2016 by Andrea The Maniac Iannone at 354,9 km/h still stood, but only just.
According to Michele Pirro, “ Unfortunately, I ruined my good performances in practice and qualifying with a very bad start, and I found myself thirteenth in the first corner having started from fourth place on the grid, and that certainly didn't help much .
“From then on, I tried to keep my own pace, but we all had more or less the same speed and the fight between us did not allow me to move up many positions.
“In the end I finished the race just behind Jorge and that's no big deal, but above all I'm delighted because we performed well and we were always fast throughout the weekend. »
For Claudio Domenicali, Executive Director of Ducati Motor Holding, “ Dovizioso's victory is a magnificent result which is just a reward for the hard work and sacrifices that everyone at Ducati Corse has made over the last few months and so I would like to dedicate this magnificent victory to them.
“At Mugello we saw two Ducatis and two Italian riders on the podium, with Andrea first, in a fantastic race with no real retirements, and in the end the best man and his bike won.
“With this extraordinary motorcycle, Dovizioso has achieved an exceptional result. This is the result of excellent teamwork, and I think all Italians will be proud of it. »
Grand Prix results:
1- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP
2- Maverick Vinales – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.281
3- Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 2.334
4- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 3.685
5- Alvaro Bautista – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 5.802
6- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 5.885
7- Johann Zarco – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 13.205
8- Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 14.393
9- Michele Pirro – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 14.880
10- Andrea Iannone – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 15.502
11- Tito Rabat – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 22.004
12- Scott Redding – OCTO Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 24.952
13- Jonas Folger – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 28.160
14- Hector Barbera – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 30.676
15- Jack Miller – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – Honda RC213V – + 30.779
16- Karel Abraham – Pull&Bear Aspar Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 42.306
17- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 46.294
18- Loris Baz – Reale Avintia Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 50.731
19- Sam Lowes – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia RS-GP – + 50.740
20- Bradley Smith – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM RC16 – + 50.897
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 105 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 79
3 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 75
4 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 68
5 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 68
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 64
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 46
8 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 42
9 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 41
10 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 40
20 Michele PIRRO-Ducati 7
Photos © Ducati
