The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, on track with a special livery, was very close to the podium on Sunday in Austin with Di Giannantonio, who finished the race in fourth place. Morbidelli ended in fourteenth position.
The United States GP concluded with a fourth-place finish for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which went on track on Sunday in Austin with a special livery designed by Aldo Drudi. Fabio Di Giannantonio fought for the podium, finishing fourth and as the top Ducati rider. Franco Morbidelli placed fourteenth after a comeback race.
Di Giannantonio made the most of his pole position start (secured by breaking the lap time record), immediately joining the battle for the podium. Fabio showed an excellent pace, managing to stay with the leading group and defend his position with great determination. The rider frome Rome crossed the finish line in fourth place, confirming himself once again in Austin as the best Ducati rider at the finish. Di Giannantonio is fourth in the World Standing with 50 points.
A challenging race for Morbidelli, who started from twentieth position. After a difficult start, Franco showed great determination on a very demanding track, gaining positions. Consistently improving lap after lap, the Italian-Brazilian rider crossed the finish line in fourteenth place. With today’s result, he is thirteenth in the World Standing with 14 points.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will return to the track in three weeks following the extended break caused by the postponement of the Qatar GP. MotoGP returns to Europe for the Spanish GP, which will take place from 24th to 26th April at the Circuito de Jerez.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“Overall, it was a positive weekend, I’m very happy. We arrived here in Austin and I wasn’t at 100% of my physical condition, so I have to thank Christian, the physiotherapist, and the whole team for the work they did to help me recover with my shoulder. We’ll need to undergo some tests to understand what’s going on, because I struggled a bit physically. Aside from that, we’re in great shape, we’re putting pressure on the front riders even though there’s still a gap at the moment. We need to work both with the team and Ducati to close that gap. We know where we need to improve and we’re already doing it. We’re still missing something in the race. It’s not the result we wanted, because when you’re competing at a high level you always aim for the podium, but today I gave my best and fourth was the maximum we could achieve. There are still many positives to take home: I got pole position and set many fast laps. I’m really happy.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“It was a tough weekend. We struggled every day, although less and less each day. Today in the race we managed to score two points: it’s not what we want, but it was important to finish the race to gather information and data. The feeling with the bike wasn’t great this weekend, we didn’t have rear grip. But, we started from further back and improved more and more as the days went on. That’s a positive aspect. Now we have a few weeks off, we’ll keep training and working with the team to do better and return to our best.”
PABLO NIETO
“Overall, Austin was a good weekend for Diggia and we should be happy. We were missing something, because we were fighting for the win with him, and it’s a pity we didn’t make it on the podium. But he took pole position and achieving this kind of result is really great, I believe we’re working very well. Right now, our rivals have made a significant step forward, but we’re very close. Franco struggled a lot during this weekend in the United States, but he improved greatly during the race. If he continues like this, we’ll see him back in the top positions.”
