Den blide og meget populære italieneren, som gikk fra MotoGP til Dakar Rally for kun måneder siden, debuterte i den amerikanske toppklassen. Og FOR en debut!
Heiet på av sine tidligere MotoGP-kolleger, som også kjører på COTA denne helgen, klinket han like så godt til med seier.
Livet er tydeligvis helt innertier i den amerikanske serien:
“For me, really the target was to be on the podium because these guys and also Jake (Gagne) are really, really fast. Especially since not generally 2022, but since generally 2021 that I’m racing. I did a MotoGP season then I went testing to Dakar. I broke my ankle. I went to Dakar. I did the Dakar, and I broke again the ankle, the collarbone, and the radius. I come back home, and I was really, really tired. I haven’t had the chance to have really a training. When I was better one month ago, I took my motocross bike and I crashed again, and I broke my ligament.»
«I almost forgot how I can run. I feel like I got the legs of another man. But I am happy. I’m not physically fit, but I tried to stay there. I tried to push. In the first part of the track, I was really, really struggling. Then I tried to manage it. I was not thinking to push too much, but when I tried to really push my rear tire was really, really unstable. I tried to manage until the end because we have just a pair of days of testing in Europe, so for me the bike is completely new. It doesn’t fit so much with the Dunlop tyres that are really, really good but they need a proper setup. For sure, I’m really, really happy to be here racing with these guys. The atmosphere is really, really nice. It’s true that coming to MotoAmerica is one of the best choices I have ever made.”
