Bryan Staring earned an 18th place finish in his first MotoGP start at Mugello.

GO&FUN Gresini Honda’s Bryan Staring finished an important home race for his team in Italy and added more crucial experience to his maiden MotoGP campaign.

The Australian piloted the satellite outfit’s Claiming Rules Team machine to a solid 18th place from 22nd on the grid.

The result at Mugello marked a strong recovery for the 26-year-old who had been hampered by issues in the earlier free practice sessions highlighted by a crash in FP3.

“It has been a difficult but constructive weekend because I have picked up some very useful experience for the future,” summarised Staring.

“I felt good on the bike but in some sections of the track I couldn’t push it as hard as I would have liked. Still, I am looking on this as a positive experience that will definitely help us next time out.”

Fausto Gresini was pleased to see Staring achieve another race finish – his third from five starts – on a tough day for the team which saw lead rider Alvaro Bautista crash out just three corners into the race,

“For Bryan it was another day that will help him to grow,” said Gresini. “He finished the race, which was the first objective, and gained some important experience.”

Each experience will serve Staring well as he strives for his first goal of a points finish in MotoGP.