28 May 2022 – Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello – Italy

Conflicting emotions in the Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing box. In fact, during the night we received news about the conditions of Ayumu. Our Japanese pilot suffered a fracture of a vertebra, both clavicles, a head trauma, and multiple contusions. The accident was very bad, and it was fortunate that it did not have more serious consequences. Ayumu is currently in hospital and in the next few hours will be evaluated his condition and recovery time.

Obviously Ayumu will miss the Italian Grand Prix and about this, it must be said that with tomorrow’s race, we will be at the eighth Grand Prix held, only two done with both our drivers on track. There’s not much to say!

Fortunately, our John today managed to win an excellent second row, thanks to the sixth time. John in free practice 3 improved his time, winning the ninth time of the combined rankings. In qualifying 2, on the first lap, he got the time of 1’57.299, which until a few minutes from the end was the best time. At the end of the 15 minutes of qualifying, our British driver suffered a delay of 0.488 s from poleman D. Oncü.

Here are the statements of John and our Team Owner Max Biaggi.

JOHN MCPHEE : “I am very satisfied with the second row start for tomorrow. Of course I wanted more because until the last minutes we were in provisional pole, but anyway the positive things first. The bike is working really well, I am really happy, the team is doing such an amazing job, and it’s good to feel very strong. I think we made an improvement from the hot weather conditions of FP2 until now, because yesterday in FP2 I did not find so comfortable, but today I managed to improve even compared to FP3. This was a very positive point, it was a shame that my fastest lap was at the start, because I think, maybe it was not good enough for pole, but for sure it was for the front row. Anyway, in Mugello it does not make such a big difference, since the race here is normally a big group. So yeah, I am very excited and motivated for the race tomorrow.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “I am very sorry for what happened yesterday to Ayumu. I went to the hospital last night to check on his conditions. Thankfully the accident did not have serious consequences, but Ayumu suffered several fractures, including the most important to a vertebra. In the next few hours,the strategy, so that Ayumu can recover in the best way from the injury, will be evaluated. John gave us a good result today, with a second row. I expect him to fight for the lead tomorrow.”

Results Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley 2022 – Qualifying

Pole – Deniz ÖNCÜ (KTM) 1’56.811, 6. John MCPHEE (Husqvarna) 1’57.299.