Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli end the opening day of the Malaysian GP on a positive note, after finishing in fifth and ninth place respectively and both securing a Q2 spot.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team had a good start to the Malaysian GP, claiming a double direct Q2 spot on Friday’s Practice. Both Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli showed a good feeling at the Sepang International Circuit, ending the opening day of the weekend in fifth and ninth place respectively.
Di Giannantonio started his Malaysian GP in ninth place at the end of FP1, after focusing his work on perfecting his bike in the first session. Fabio improved both his pace and his time attack in Practice, where he dominated the timesheet right from the start and for most of the session. The rider from Rome proved to have a good feeling and – setting a 1’57”442 as his best lap time – he ended Practice in fifth place, claiming a direct Q2 spot.
It was a good Friday for Morbidelli too, he succeeded to be in Top10 in both sessions. Franco was sixth in FP1 and in Practice he made some steps forward both in terms of pace and time attack. The times of the Italian-Brazilian rider were constantly under two-minutes, and he was able to improve in the afternoon session, in which he set a 1’57”582 in the final stages. This lap time allowed him to be directly in tomorrow’s Q2 in with the ninth place.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will be back on track on Saturday for qualifying, which will begin at 10:50 am (local time, +8 UTC). The Sprint will follow at 3:00 pm (local time, +8 UTC). The Malaysian GP will conclude with Sunday’s race, which will start exceptionally at 3:00 pm (local time, +8 UTC).
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“I am very happy with how this first day went; I think we did a great job on the bike improving run by run. This morning, we focused on the comparison between the bike of the start of the year and the one we’ve been developing during the season. It’s not that different and you can be fast with the bike of the winter tests too, but it’s easier for me to ride with the developed one. Moreover, today it was important to manage the energies to face the heat of the weekend. I am happy because the feeling improved, so as the time attack and the pace. It was important to see that we are competitive in terms of results on this track, where I’ve been fast lately, but I’ve never really shone. Overall, we did a great job, we’ve always made the right steps, and this is positive for the trend of the weekend.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“It was a positive Friday! We were able to be directly in Q2, which is important for us, and I am happy. The team worked really well, and we adapted very well to the track conditions, which were not so easy today. Now, we must continue carrying on the work starting from this base. We keep pushing, trying to develop even more the setup, and for tomorrow we will try to make another step forward.”
