English
Italiano
One thing is certain, the happiest people at Misano's reopening yesterday were the riders. After all, they were back doing what they love the most, and the quarantine months have only increased their desire for two wheels: Michele Pirro is well aware of this, a man used to grinding out kilometre after kilometre as Ducati workaholic, and he was back to try out the new asphalt on his Panigale V4R.
“Yesterday we did a general check to see that everything was in order,” said Michele, “and today I really did some laps. It was really nice and good fun to get back on track and having the company of other riders made everything better".
He was also pleased to be able to get back in the saddle, after finding lap after lap the confidence (in part) lost due to an abundant two months of inactivity.
"During the first lap I thought ‘Hell, this bike is really fast!’ (laughs, Ed.). I spent the last few months exclusively in a van capable of reaching a top speed of 135 km/h, so touching 270 was a bit strange at first".
The man from Puglia (resident for years in Cesena) had good words to say about the new asphalt, which was christened today.
“The new asphalt seemed really good despite the dirt; they’ve done an excellent job. The first outing was certainly better than other tracks with new asphalt, for example Finland, and times improved after every session. Now it remains to see the level of maintenance, but I think there will be no problems. "Another veteran on the track was Lorenzo Savadori, who was also very happy to get out onto the track again. "It was great to get back on track,” he explained “and it is almost difficult to describe the sense of freedom that it transmitted to me. The new asphalt is very nice, I have to congratulate the circuit for the excellent work done." 
In the case of Savadori, there was also curiosity surrounding the new Aprilia RSV4 1100.
“The main differences from the 1000 lie in the details, in addition to the engine of course. There has been a step forward in terms of electronics, and the winglets have also brought benefits. It is not a revolution but an evolution ".
The day also featured several interesting youngsters, such as Alessandro Delbianco. The Romagna rider took to the track for the first time with the BMW of the DMR team, and the joy provoked by this could be heard in his voice.
“I concentrated a lot on the bike,” Alessandro said “and it went really well. When I got out of the garage for the first time I was a bit undecided about what to do, I didn't know whether to push hard or not: in the end I decided to open the gas immediately and it was beautiful ".
The times recorded are not indicative of anything, but it was just a pleasure to have been able to savour the feeling of being out on track.
“For me it was a real shakedown, but the times are encouraging, given the very dirty track too. Pirro and Savadori? I lapped on my own, I hope to be able to challenge them as soon as possible in the race ".
