The consequences of the fall of Michele Pirro in Imola during the round of the Italian Superbike CIV championship, we know them: the Italian rider will not be able to exercise his function as replacement rider for Ducati, nor even that of test rider, fracture of the tibial malleolus of his left foot. At a time when Borgo Panigale has a plethora of wounded among its troops, this is bad timing, but what does not go through, on the other side of the Alps, is that the author of the fall, Lorenzo Zanetti, is by this maneuver assured of the national title…
Lorenzo Zanetti and Michele Pirro clashed on Saturday, a no-holds-barred duel ending with the victory of the Brescia native and the fall of the Ducati MotoGP test rider. Lorenzo Zanetti had thus taken control of the championship, but Sunday's revenge left the way open to a series of possibilities. Michele Pirro had to win at all costs, a goal more than within his reach, given the seven victories in the previous eleven races. In this case, Lorenzo Zanetti should have finished at least second to maintain the lead and win his first national title. Maximum voltage at the start…
In the fifth of the 13 planned rounds, Lorenzo Zanetti attacked decisively Alex Delbianco, who had interfered in the confrontation between the two contenders. But he completely missed his braking at the infamous Variante Bassa, hitting the rear of the car very violently. Michele Pirro. Unlike the offender, Michele Pirro was able to restart but his seriously damaged Panigale forced him to finish 11th and last, whereas, in these conditions, a place of 7th would have been enough to secure him the title.
“After three weeks of road racing, tonight I thought I was finally going to have dinner with my family. Instead, I had a diet dinner at the hospital and for dessert of the day, in addition to the various blows, a beautiful fracture of the malleolus. In life, you have to know how to win and lose, but always keep your head held high, and I'm proud of that because I can keep my head held high. The Italian title is good, I don't live for it, but honestly what we saw on the track today is not good for the sport. Some will say it's the races, but seeing the images again gives me chills« , said Michele Pirro through its social networks.
“I was told that yesterday Zanetti said 'either glory or gravel'. Well, for him, the glory today, and for us the gravel. Yesterday he made a series of over-the-bounds passes, and instead of penalizing him, they congratulated him. The fall and my injury today were the result of his uncontrollable actions. It was not the fastest driver who won, but rather the most incorrect. Now I will have to have surgery and I will be forced to skip the MotoGP tests. »
Lorenzo Zanetti gave his version of what happened: “ This wasn't how I wanted to end. Michele and I are rivals, but we are always fair and sporty. I wanted to finish a race like this in a different way, but unfortunately I made a mistake. I knew I could fight for victory and I tried. I was planning to overtake Alessandro [Delbianco] and I came out faster. I already had half the bike inside, I couldn't do anything but cut really tight and that's probably where I braked a little too much. Maybe there I could have even doubled it, I will have to see the photos again, but unfortunately the Bassa Variant is like that. [Pirro] was there, he couldn't get away.".
To our partners Motoracing, he precised : " Luckily, I don't use social media much so I haven't read all the controversy that arose after yesterday's accident. I'm really sorry that Michele Pirro got injured but personally I'm calm and I feel clean. I wish Michele a speedy recovery. I would like to reiterate, once again, that there was absolutely no voluntary action on my part. On the other hand, I myself risked being injured in this accident and I am also a little bruised. I was leading in the standings and I would have only had to stay behind Pirro to win the Italian title. Obviously I would have liked to win, because it's in the DNA of every athlete, but I consider it a racing accident. Episodes of this type are commonplace, very frequent even in MotoGP, sometimes even between teammates: we all see it. Unfortunately, risks are part of this sport. »
There are certain disciplines where those responsible are punished, but in this case it would have been very difficult to find the right and fair solution. This simply translates to a tainted claim to fame.
