Simone Corsi hailed Monday as a ‘great opportunity’, as the Italian Moto2™ rider sampled a MotoGP™ machine for the first time. Riding for NGM Forward Racing, the Roman took to the helm of Colin Edwards’ bike.

While Aleix Espargaro focused on electronics and bike setup, working mostly on his second bike which hadn’t been used since Qatar, on the other side of the garage Corsi’s confidence grew as he racked up 45 laps and a 1’42.333 lap time.

"Today I had the great opportunity to test the MotoGP™ machine and it was an incredible experience," 27-year-old Corsi began. "I completed 45 laps to gain confidence with the Forward Yamaha and I’m satisfied. There are so many differences with the Moto2™ in terms of power, acceleration and electronics.

"The MotoGP™ bike is very physically demanding, so I preferred to concentrate all the workload on the morning. I’d like to thank the team for this opportunity."

Corsi has been part of the World Championship since 2002, when he made his debut as a 125 wildcard at Mugello. He stepped up to 250s in 2005, but in 2006 would return to 125s; he then won five races across the course of 2007 and 2008 and stayed in the class until the end of 2009. He has competed in all seasons of Moto2™ since the class was launched in 2010, more recently beginning this year with a trio of fifth place finishes before crashing twice in last weekend’s Jerez race.