In the last race of the Overseas, which took place by night at the Lusail International Circuit, Fabio DI Giannantonio is eighth at the chequered flag. Franco Morbidelli ends in eleventh place.
The Sunday night of the Qatar GP – which marked the end of the Overseas – ended in a bittersweet way for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, with Fabio Di Giannantonio finishing eighth. It was a complicated race for Franco Morbidelli too, who crossed the finish line of the Lusail International Circuit race in eleventh place.
Di Giannantonio started from the front row and was able to keep his position in the first metres. However, in the chaos of the first turns he dropped five positions and he was eighth at the end of the opening lap. Fabio started his comeback, gaining one position at the third lap. But the rider from Rome could not express his best rhythm and came back to eighth place in the second half of the race. Di Giannantonio fought with great determination and kept the eighth place until the chequered flag. With the eighth place at the Qatar GP, Fabio is sixth in the World Standing with 282 points.
Morbidelli – who was starting from the fifth row – had a complicated start, but at the first turn he dropped to the back of the field. Franco started his comeback, recovering two positions in one lap. The Italian-Brazilian rider defended showing a good progression throughout the 22-laps race and, in the final stages, he was close to the Top10. After recovering five positions, Franco was able to secure the eleventh place at the last lap. Morbidelli is sixteenth in the World Standing with 70 points.
With the Qatar GP – which marks a new attendance record of 55,120 fans – the Overseas end and MotoGP stops for a week before coming back to action in Europe: the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will hit the track at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the Portuguese GP from 20th to 22nd November.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“It was a particular Sunday: this morning in the Warm Up I told my team that I hadn't had this much fun on the bike in the last two years! I had an amazing bike, and I could do anything I wanted; we were fast. We were ready to have a great performance in the race, but unfortunately, at the second lap I had a vibration on the rear, and I couldn’t do the right angle. I struggled a lot, it’s a pity. We must focus on what we have in control and on the positives. Until the race, we had a great weekend, we secured the podium in the Sprint, and we are fast, we proved that. If we can have a smooth weekend, we can have fun in this last part of the season.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“It was an okay day. I had a bad start, and I was in the last position at Turn 1. I tried to do something to recover, but I went wide. Later, I started to recover little by little. At the last lap, I made an overtake at the last corner and I was able to get close to the Top10, which is our goal of the weekend. With the eleventh place in the race, we were close to the Top10, but we were too far at the first stages and it’s a pity. But with had the rhythm to be close to our goal and this is positive.”
PABLO NIETO
“The result of the race was not what we expected, and now we need to analyse the data to understand whathappened. It was a pity because Fabio had a very good weekend, securing a front row in the Qualifying and a second place in the Sprint race. Overall, we had been competitive throughout the weekend and fighting for thetop positions, but unfortunately not on Sunday. With Franco, we struggled throughout the weekend, but weworked as hard as possible to keep making progress. The Lusail track is never an easy one. We need to keepworking hard to get back to the front. Now the Overseas are over and it's time to head home. This week break willgive us the opportunity to recharge our batteries and analyse everything ahead of the final two races of the season.”
