The Marc VDS Racing Team and Mika Kallio made a solid start on the opening day of practice ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello finishing Friday in ninth.

Mika made significant set-up changes ahead of this afternoon's session, altering both the balance and the geometry of the bike to improve both turning and agility through the many fast changes of direction that are a feature of the Mugello circuit.

The 29-year-old Finn looked all set to finish today seventh fastest, but lost two places to his teammate and Alex de Angelis, who used his slipstream to improve on his fastest time.

Mika will continue to refine the set-up of his Kalex Moto2 machine during tomorrow's final free practice session, before turning his attentions to securing positions on the front two rows of the grid in qualifying.

Mika Kallio #36: 9th - 1'53.372

- I'm quite happy with the progress we've made today. Espargaro and Smith managed to pull a slight gap at the top of the timesheet, but then the times are very tight between the remainder of the top ten. We made some quite big changes to the bike for this afternoon's session, altering both the balance and the wheelbase quite significantly.

- Normally it takes me a while to adapt when we make such big changes, but this afternoon the bike felt good and I was quickly back up to speed. Tomorrow I need to focus on closing the gap to the two riders at the top of the timesheet and securing a good grid position for Sunday's race.

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
- We've had a solid start to the weekend, with both Scott and Mika inside the top ten and running very similar lap times during today's free practice sessions. Both riders made quite significant changes to the set-up of their Kalex Moto2 machines for this afternoon's session, which was something of a gamble, but one that paid off. Tomorrow we need to close the gap to the top two riders ahead of qualifying, where they'll be aiming for a position on the front two rows of the grid.