Editor

A few months ago, in an interview in an Italian magazine, Michele Pirro declared that Italian riders had never really had an opportunity to be successful in World Supersport. Now the 23-year-old from San Giovanni Rotondo in the south of Italy has to live up to his words after being signed by the ultra-successful Hannspree Ten Kate Honda squad as team-mate to Kenan Sofuoglu in next year's championship.


Valencia was Pirro's first official test for Ten Kate following a provisional outing on the team's CBR600RR at Portimao in October. At the end of the two days, the 2009 Italian Supersport champion, who had to familiarize himself with a Honda after years of racing a Yamaha, was only three-tenths off the pace of his team-mate after a total of 120 laps.


"I am really happy with these two days in Valencia, which have given me a chance to improve my feeling with the bike even more after the good test we had in Portimao" said Pirro. "I am so happy with the bike and the team and I am confident of a good season next year because this bike is so fast! I had a small crash this morning at turn two and hurt my finger, but nothing like Kenan! Maybe I pushed a bit too hard on cold tyres. I would like to thank the team and Gerrit and Ronald ten Kate again for this fantastic opportunity - I hope to get very good results from the very start of next season."



Source: World Superbike

__________________
Kawasaki Racing