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"I open and close the track," Michele Pirro jokes about the workload ahead of him in this Shakedown. There are the new Ducati GP25s to prepare for the arrival of the two factory riders Marquez and Bagnaia, as well as for Di Giannantonio, and the veteran test rider is racking up lap after lap in Sepang.
"I doa normal job, to try to evolve the bike," he tells us during a break, "It's not easy, because we start from a really good base, but we try. You have seen the new fairing (HERE) and there are other details as well. We hope to make a small step forward for the official riders, although, again, it's not easy, but we have some cards to play."
Gigi Dall'Igna, during the presentation in Madonna di Campiglio, had said that he did not want to revolutionize the Desmosedici, but also that he had new engine, aerodynamics, frame, swingarm and lowering device ready... "And this is just what you can see - laughs Michele - Something positive is there, then we will hear what Pecco, Marc and even Fabio will say in the coming days."
For the moment, the Italian tester has not yet spoken to his riders. "They are on the road now," he says, "These days I've been doing the kind of work that the riders don't have time for, so we haven't focused much on performance, but we've gathered some indications.
And he has been keeping an eye on rookie Aldeguer. "The important thing is that he understood that MotoGP is tough. I told him, 'Think if you were 20 years older, like me! - jokes Pirro - It's nice to be able to compare yourself with a generation very different from yours. He' s good because he's going step by step, without overdoing it."
Team manager Davide Tardozzi intervenes: "Fermin is doing very well and, from what we have seen, he absorbs, he learns. He has no presumption. You can see it in the data and on how he approaches the corners after listening to suggestions, he immediately tries to put them into practice. The approach is great, after that in the first half of the season he just has to think about continuing to learn."
Testing in Malaysia is also the first opportunity to get an idea of the improvements made by his rivals over the winter.
"In Sepang the KTMs were also fast last year, also because on this track Dani is very fast, while Pol is always difficult to interpret because he seems to struggle in all the corners with the bike. I think they will be in the game as well. It's curious to see that all the manufacturers in these tests are working a lot, they will for sure come closer, we will understand then how much. I always remember that Ducati is the benchmark bike and has important riders, more than anything else I am very curious to see Martin on the Aprilia," Michele concluded.
