Moto3 Assen: Matteo Ferrari “It's a shame about the start, I could have aspired to the Top Ten”

Matteo Ferrari, rider of the San Carlo Team Italia, rode a good race in Assen, scene of the Dutch Grand Prix. In fact, he managed to score again in the points (13th position) and without a bad start he could have aspired to the top ten. The word is up to him.

“I am certainly satisfied for having achieved world championship points again, but there is a bit of bitterness: given the times we could even aspire to a place in the top-10. In terms of set-up we were fine, I had a good feeling with the bike, unfortunately we once again suffered a forgettable start. I partially managed to remedy this right from the start with a series of overtakes on other drivers, but already in the early stages of the race the other group in front of us had taken a considerable advantage and it was practically impossible to overcome this disadvantage. With the team we will try to find a solution to be able to make a better start in the next races, optimizing the peculiarities of the clutch together with the Mahindra technicians. Once this problem has been resolved, I am convinced, we can aim for results more in line with our continually growing potential.”

However, his team-mate Andrea Locatelli is out of the points and is therefore bitter about it: “”A bitter race. With the points zone so close there is understandably some regret for not having reached this goal, but we can look forward to the next races with confidence due to the progress made in the last period. This morning in the Warm Up, on a largely wet track, we showed that we can be in important positions with a good 6th overall time. Unfortunately during the race I lost a lot in terms of acceleration out of the last hairpin, it was always problematic to keep in the wake of the other drivers. Despite this gap, I certainly didn't give up, I made some nice overtakings, often risking corner entry to stay ahead of the riders in my small group. It's a shame, but as a rider in his first season in the MotoGP, every race is always an experience for the future.”

Team manager Virginio Ferrari is satisfied with the weekend and is starting to see the "light" after a difficult start to the season: Matteo and Andrea reaffirmed their driving skills again today by achieving a good race, but for our part we are already looking ahead. As for Matteo, his race was partially compromised at the start where we still encountered some problems at the start: once this small inconvenience is resolved we can stay in the group in front of us. In any case, Matteo has proven his worth and I can say the same about Andrea, it is now up to us to try to continue our growth in terms of absolute competitiveness "step by step". In the last few races we have made significant progress, reducing the gap on average to just over 1" from the leaders. To overcome this disadvantage, in symbiosis with the Mahindra technicians, we must optimize the engine mapping by finding a more harmonious and manageable delivery, ideal for the driving style of our kids. By fixing this aspect, quantifiable in 3/4 tenths of a lap time, we can get back into the group fully in the running for the top-10, a finish line in line with the talent and peculiarities of Matteo and Andrea"