Display of skill and bad luck mark out the Saturday of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team in Thailand. Morbidelli is fifth and a stoic Di Giannantonio in his comeback is forced to retire in the Sprint.
Bittersweet Sprint for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team in Buriram, with Franco Morbidelli who is in P5 in his first Sprint with the team, while Fabio Di Giannantonio is forced to retire with two laps to go.
In his debut with the Tavullia-based team, Morbidelli ended the qualifying in P6 (1’29”171) after securing the Q2 yesterday. The high temperature during the Sprint put Franco to the test, but he could improve his result with a fifth place at the chequered flag, not far from the top riders.
Just 51 thousandths kept Di Giannantonio out of Q2, and he qualified in P13 in his comeback from the injury. In the Sprint, Fabio was proving a lot of strength, and he reached the Top10 fighting against his rivals despite the pain. However, he had to retire with two laps remaining due to the high temperature his bike reached.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track on Sunday for the last day of the Thai GP, the first race of the season will start at 3 pm (local time, +7UTC).
FABIO DI GIANNATONIO
"It's a pity we couldn’t finish the race, because the bike has a huge potential, and I was feeling very strong today. Unfortunately, the bike was burning since the first lap. I’m sorry for the team, but I couldn’t take it anymore with two laps to go. Apart from this problem, the feeling was very good. This morning, we changed something on the bike that allows me to be fast and this is positive. Physically, I’m getting used to the pain, I’m not at my 100%, but improving the bike helps me in riding better”.
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
“I did the best Sprint I could do. In the first laps, I tried to pass Ogura, who did a good race, but I couldn’t do more than this because it was extremely hot, and I struggled breathing and riding normally. It was a very tough race, maybe one of the toughest ever, but we could be in Top5 and this is a great way to start. Tomorrow it will be hard as well because of the temperature, and it will be a resistance race, but we’re one of the fastest on the grid”.
