On the first day of the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, Franco Morbidelli is twelfth and Fabio Di Giannantonio is eighteenth.
The Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia kicks off with a challenge for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team: on Friday, both riders are forced to pass through Q1. At the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, where the team feels like home outside of Italy, Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio couldn’t make it to the Top10.
Uphill Friday for Morbidelli, who finished FP1 in twelfth position. Franco improved his time attack during Practice, getting closer to the Top10. However, with a final twelfth place (1:30.108), the #21 will go through Q1 in Saturday’s qualifying.
Di Giannantonio started the Mandalika weekend with an eighth place in FP1. Fabio improved his time during Practice (1:30.496), but it wasn’t enough to secure direct access to Q2, finishing in eighteenth place.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track on Saturday for qualifying, which begins at 10:50 a.m. (local time, +6 CET). The Sprint race will follow at 3:00 p.m. (local time). The Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia will end on Sunday with the main race, that will start at 3 p.m. (local time).
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“Today it was a tough day, we struggled a lot with the rear grip, that it’s not usual for me. It was difficult to put together some laps and to go fast, so it will be another night with a lot of work with the guys. The team, Ducati and I are working really hard to understand what’s going on, but I’m sure we will figure out how to improve. For sure, there are positives: the parts Ducati brought give me a better feeling. The potential is incredible, as we proved this year, we just need consistency. For tomorrow, we will try to pass to Q2 and make a good job once we are there.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“It was a difficult day, the track conditions were tricky, we were all struggling to use the tyres and put some heat on them. Making a good laptime to go directly to Q2 was really hard. Despite a complicated feeling we were close to the Top 10, but I made a mistake and I couldn’t go through. It’s going to be a really sparky Q1, full of great riders. Let’s see what we can do.”
