The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team goes to Sepang International Circuit, where this weekend the Malaysian GP – the penultimate round of the Overseas – will take place.
MotoGP gets ready to face the second back-to-back weekend of the Overseas and this weekend hits the track at the Sepang International Circuit. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is eager to race at the Malaysian GP after the cancellation of Sunday’s race at Phillip Island due to bad weather. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli’s goal is to confirm the good feelings and the steps forward in this last part of the Asian races.
Di Giannantonio arrives to Sepang in sixth place in the World Standing with 252 points, and he is ready to replicate the good performances of Australia, where he claimed a Sprint podium. On the Malaysian track, the winter tests usually take place, and this weekend won’t be the first approach of the year. However, Sepang is different compared to Phillip Island, and this will represent a new challenge for Fabio, who got a sixth place in last year’s race as his best result in MotoGP.
Morbidelli has great memories of the Sepang International Circuit, where he claimed two podiums in Moto2: a second place in 2016 and a third place in 2017. The latter result allowed him to be crowned World Champion in the intermediate class. Franco’s best result in MotoGP on the Malaysian track is a fourth place he got both in last year’s Sprint and race. The Italian-Brazilian rider’s goal for the Malaysian GP is to continue making step forward, building on his solid performance on this track.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will hit the track on Friday for Free Practice sessions, while Qualifying will take place on Saturday at ore 10:50 (local time, +8 UTC). The Sprint will get underway at 3:00 pm (local time, +8 UTC) on Saturday, while the Malaysian GP will conclude on Sunday with the main race, starting exceptionally at 3:00 pm (local time, +8 UTC).
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“We arrive to the Malaysian GP with positivity after the Sprint podium we claimed in Australia. Even if Sunday’s race didn’t take place, the good result of last Saturday gives us a lot of confidence heading to Sepang, despite being a completely different track from Phillip Island. Also, the conditions will be very different because it will be very hot, but it’s a very beautiful track, I like it. In Malaysia, the goal will be to confirm the good feelings, and we aim to have a linear weekend, getting off to a good start right away just as we did so far. It will be a good challenge, and we are eager to go on track.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“I look forward to riding at Sepang, which is a very different track from Phillip Island. I like the track a lot and I have good memories: here I won the Moto2 World Title in 2017 and, overall, I’ve always been fast and got good results. This year, we’re not where we want to be yet, and on this track, you need a good feeling to be fast. But we arrive to the Malaysian GP with confidence, and we continue working to be competitive again. So, this weekend’s goal is the Top10 again.”
