MotoGP Le Mans, Qualifying: A day to forget for Team Pramac

Team Pramac did not shine today in qualifying for the French Grand Prix in the MotoGP class. Both Andrea Iannone and Michele Pirro (who replaces the injured Ben Spies here) were in fact excluded from Q2, having not achieved one of the first two positions in Q1. Here's what they said at the end of the day of testing.

“I feel better than I thought, the muscle can handle the effort and doesn't bother me, this is absolutely positive. The knee is more painful at the moment, because it is compressed under the suit, but I know that it is temporary – said Andrea Iannone – Energy TI Pramac Racing Team – Without the physical problems I would certainly be much calmer, I could concentrate differently on riding, but not I want to give it too much weight. I want to understand where to improve, how to be faster, and work from a race perspective so that I can gain positions. Now I struggle a lot when braking, I can't slow down as I would like, and then I can't apply the gas as I would like, for tomorrow the goal is to solve the problem or at least limit it. At the moment I'm struggling to understand how to adjust the settings, the changes of recent days have not given me too much satisfaction, comparing myself with the Ducati Team riders I realized that we are not adopting the same choices, but in Jerez for example the my line had given more results. On this track, however, not. At the moment I don't know whether to try to change, perhaps following their advice, or continue on my path. I am very happy with Andrea's 3rd position which really gives me hope.”

“It's the first time I've used this bike and I need to get familiar with it. We have improved session after session but I still don't feel at the point where I would like to be. I suffered from the lack of feeling, maybe I need to do more km, a few more sessions – added Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team – We tried in all the sessions to change something, but I'm still not satisfied. We didn't get what we hoped for and at the moment I'm struggling to adapt to the bike. Not knowing its limits yet, I can't ride as I would like, and not feeling good on the bike, I haven't been able to do more at the moment. I tried to bring a setting similar to what I'm used to, but to no avail. These bikes are really demanding from a physical point of view and I understand that for Ben, with his shoulder problem, it is not easy to ride them. I will try to do my best to give useful feedback for the continuation of development, and let's see if we can get a good result. Seeing that Dovizioso obtained a third position on the grid makes me very happy and obviously gives me a lot of confidence. We will still work hard for tomorrow, and hope to achieve more.”

Photos: Alex Farinelli