Positive feelings for Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who end the official MotoGP winter test in Thailand in seventh and ninth place respectively in the combined classification over the two days.
At the Chang International Circuit, the official MotoGP winter tests came to an end, and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team also completed Day 2 with positive feelings and confidence ahead of the start of the 2026 season. Franco Morbidelli finished the final day of testing in seventh place, while Fabio Di Giannantonio secured ninth place.
It was a positive day for Morbidelli, who continued on Day 2 the work started on the first day of testing. Franco confirmed the good feeling with his Ducati Desmosedici GP, as shown by his time attack. On the second day of testing, the Italian-Brazilian rider improved his best reference time compared to Day 1. Morbidelli completed 61 laps overall, with a best laptime of 1’29”071, which placed him seventh both in the combined classification for the day and in the overall classification across the two days of testing.
Di Giannantonio also completed a positive Day 2, during which he carried out a race simulation with encouraging feedback. Fabio continued working on the updates to his Ducati Desmosedici GP and proved to be competitive in the time attack as well – in the afternoon he topped the timesheets, finishing the session in the Top3. The rider from Rome – who improved his laptime both from Day 1 to Day 2 and from the morning to the afternoon session – completed 68 laps overall. His fastest laptime was 1’29”173, which placed him ninth in both today’s combined classification and the overall classification across the two days of testing.
With the Buriram tests, the MotoGP winter comes to an end, and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will be back on track in a few days for the Thailand Grand Prix, which will kick off the 2026 season from February 27th to March 1st.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“Long testing days! And this one in Buriram was the hardest of my life because I tried so many things. But I am very happy about that, because we worked very well with the team, we could do everything we had in mind and in our work plan. In terms of speed, it wasn’t our best test because we tried so many things and it was difficult to find the perfect lap and rhythm. But I am happy with the base setup for the first race, it seems that the final one is the same as Sepang, and it’s a huge step. We arrive to the first race with a lot of clear ideas, feeling confident and great with the team. I’m fully confident that we can do a good job with the package we have. We are ready for the season!”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“It was a positive pre-season: we worked very well during these five days of testing; we cleared out many things. In this Buriram test, we understood few more things about the new bike, that is a bit smoother, quicker and faster on the straight, it gives a better comfort. We were able to improve the feeling step by step throughout the days. On this track, I was four tenths quicker than last year, that is positive. For the start of the season, we can be competitive, we had a good speed, even though the rivals were fast. But we are there.”
