Mattia Pasini crashes twice during Ducati test

Mattia Pasini ended his second test on Ducati’s GP9 MotoGP machine with glowing praise from Bologna bosses despite two crashes in the three-day outing.

The Italian impressed on the factory GP9 at the Mugello circuit, clocking a best time of 1.51.9 on the final day despite a tumble that left him nursing a sore neck.

Pasini, who had also crashed on the second day, said: “It was really a great and positive experience and I think I could have recorded a faster personal best. Unfortunately I fell at the “Correntaio”, having made a strong start to the day with a good feeling due to the changes we had made towards the end of the second day’s session.

“The changes made a difference as I immediately went a second faster in the first exit. I didn’t injure myself too badly but hurt my neck which perhaps affected my riding; I think that otherwise I would have been able to drop another second before the end of the day.

“Anyway, I repeat that it has been a fantastic experience and I thank Ducati and the team who have looked after me during these three days.” Pasini’s best time was just 0.8s slower than Valentino Rossi best lap in a rain-hit Italian MotoGP race back in June.

Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi was impressed with Pasini’s performance and said: “During this test I was able to personally verify that Mattia is capable of riding a MotoGP bike despite the difficulties. This is possible only thanks to his unnatural talent and extraordinary determination. We have learned a lesson that goes deeper than the, albeit interesting, technical data that we’ve collected thanks to Mattia’s comments.”