Franco Morbidelli is fifteenth and gets a point, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was affected from a far from ideal physical form after yesterday’s crash, and finishes the Motegi race in eighteenth place.
The MotoGP Overseas didn’t kick off in the best way possible for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which ended the Japanese GP in a bittersweet way. It was a challenging Sunday for Franco Morbidelli, who was fifteenth and got one point. Fabio Di Giannantonio had a more complicated race due to a far from ideal physical condition and crossed the finish line in eighteenth place.
Morbidelli started from the fifth row and lost three places in the opening lap, starting to bounce back in Motegi race. Franco got more and more confidence lap by lap and was able to recover some ground. The Italian-Brazilian rider crossed the finish line of the Japanese GP in fifteenth place and got one point. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 57 points.
Di Giannantonio had a difficult start from the second row, losing five places in the opening lap. Fabio was worn out after yesterday’s crash in the Sprint and could not express his potential in Motegi race, in which he struggled to keep the pace. The rider from Rome lost ground throughout the race, but he was able to defend despite the difficulties, crossing the finish line in eighteenth place. Di Giannantonio is now sixth in the World Standing with 230 points.
The Japanese GP ended with an attendance record of 121,997 spectators, and now the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team flies to Mandalika, where the Indonesian GP will take place next weekend: it’s the third home race for the Team after the Italian ones, and the Tavullia-based squad will reveal a surprise on Tuesday 6th October in Jakarta.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“I am not in a great shape, I was expecting to be better after tonight. But this morning I struggled to be naturally at ease on the bike, especially on the right side, where I got hit yesterday. The pain is still there both in the ribs and in the hip. I was struggling even to do the classical moves, so the race was tough. Now, we must recover as fast as we can, it won’t be easy with this strict Overseas schedule. But we’ll do the maximum to be closer to the top shape in Mandalika, which is a very important race for the team. We will do our best in front of the Indonesian fans, it’s a kind of home race for the Team.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“The day started in a complicated way because we had to make a three-days schedule work in twenty minutes to change everything with the tyres to use and arriving to the race with things okay. In some ways, we did it and Sunday was quite good. The feeling in the race was not the one I was expecting, but then it improved from the second half of the race and I could do fast laps. Now we focus right away on Mandalika race, which is very important for us as one of the home race GP for the Team.”
PABLO NIETO
“Of course, this is not the result we were aiming for at the start of the Overseas. Fabio made a strong start to the weekend and, if it hadn’t been for yesterday’s crash, he had the potential to fight for a podium. The accident changed everything and prevented him to get some points, and he was worn out in today’s race. Now, it’s important for him to recover physically for next week in Mandalika, which is one of our home races. As for Franco, it wasn’t an easy weekend for him either, after missing Q2 for a little time both Friday and Saturday. However, both in the Sprint and today, the last laps were interesting, so we must keep working to complete a good race from the start to the end.”
