We made a couple of very small alterations to the chassis which were for the better and I was finally able to concentrate on going fast for the first proper time in the weekend! At the end of the session I did a 1min 55.8secs, which I was a bit disappointed to be in 17th on the grid with, but the times were very close, only half a second to 10th and 0.8secs to the second row of the grid.
Also I knew that people like Ballerini and Baldolini did 1 lap with a tow which is worth ½ a second down a straight that size easily. Also Ballerini was on pole at Mugello in the 125s three-years ago so he knows the place pretty well.
Sunday morning warm-up was easy going as normal. I ran in new pistons for 4 laps and then just checked everything was as it should be. I did a 1min 57.0secs with a full tank of fuel and old tyres so I was feeling pretty good for the race.
I was quite confident for the race, the only thing that I was slightly concerned about was getting off the line well. I did a practice start in warm up which wasn’t too good because the clutch was very rough, but it was a new one. I was nervous before the race, I ought to be used to it by now but it’s the same every time!
I didn’t get the good start that I was hoping for. Again the clutch was very rough and jerky. Luckily not that many people did get good starts because the 1st gear is very tall at Mugello. I made up a couple of places in the first few corners and at the end of the first lap I was 17th.
On lap 3 I passed Smrz, Guintoli and Giansanti to get up to 14th - and on lap 4 I passed Ballerini and Baldolini. I tried to break away from them and stay with Aoyama and Takahashi on the factory Hondas but they were just a few tenths per lap too fast.
I equalled my qualifying lap for two laps running early in the race but wasn’t able to break the group. There are so many kit riders who are all riding together this year so it’s important to try and break the group up as much as possible so there’s only a few in the group rather than 6 or 7.
