Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli finish Sunday’s race at Buriram in sixth and eighth place respectively.
The Thailand GP is in the history books, and it marks the end of the first race weekend of the 2026 campaign: in challenging conditions due to the extreme heat in Sunday’s race, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secured a double Top10 with Fabio Di Giannantonio, who is sixth at the finish line, and Franco Morbidelli, who had a comeback riding and ended in eighth place.
Starting from second row, Di Giannantonio immediately tried to join the podium battle. From the first laps, the heat put Fabio and his Ducati to the test, but they defended strongly, showing consistency despite the challenging conditions. The rider from Rome arrived at the finish line of the Thailand GP in sixth place – best Ducati rider at the chequered flag – and he now sits in seventh place in the World Standing with 12 points.
It was a comeback Sunday for Morbidelli, who started from the third row but was in nineteenth place at lap five. Despite the extreme heat, Franco showed a good speed and a strong pace, gaining many positions lap by lap. The Italian-Brazilian rider, with a decisive overtake in the final stage of the race, secured the eighth place in the Thailand GP and he now sits in ninth place in the World Standing with 8 points.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track in two weeks, when the MotoGP World Championship flies to America for the Brazilian GP, which is going to take place from 20th to 22nd March at Goiana Circuit for the first time ever.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“The race plan was to start strong and immediately stay in the front group. Unfortunately, we struggled because the others had an incredibly fast start. So we had to manage the tyres. Then, we had a technical issue from lap six and I couldn’t push the way I wanted. On top of that, there was very little grip on track today and the temperatures were really high. But if we finished sixth despite a problem, we can be optimistic, because today we could have had a really great race. I think we could have fought at least for third place because we were there in terms of pace. Overall, the bike is working very well: it’s only the first race, there are many positives, and I’ve never prepared for a season this well. We’ve worked with calm and confidence. We’re very fast and we had a solid weekend. It’s a pity we couldn’t complete the job with two strong races, but we head to Brazil with a smile and the confidence that we can be competitive.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“Today it felt like there were two races for us: at the start I struggled a lot, and I was nineteenth until lap five. Then I found my rhythm and started gaining many positions. I’d say the first part of the race wasn’t good, but after that it became very strong and solid. I had a bit of a grip issue. In this race the tyres were consuming quickly and the feeling wasn’t at its best, but I managed it well. Overall, it was a weekend of ups and downs. There are some aspects of the new package we still need to work on in depth. But there’s definitely a very good potential.”
PABLO NIETO
“I think it’s important to always be among the protagonists. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to be there in the Sprint on Saturday, but that’s racing. Today’s race was really tough – the temperatures and the heat put us to the test. We finished sixth with Fabio and eighth with Franco, which means we had a good weekend. Franco made an incredible comeback: at one point he was nineteenth, but he finished eighth. That shows the speed is there. We need to try to improve the opening laps. Now we go back home to recharge and work ahead of the next race in Brazil.”
