In the Sprint of the Dutch GP, at the iconic Assen Circuit, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secures another positive result thanks to the consistent performances of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli. Both riders fight until the chequered flag to claim the fourth and the eight place respectively.
Di Giannantonio started from the third row following his eight place in qualifying (1:31.329) and in the Sprint he showed a very good pace that allowed him to move forward from the first laps. Fabio bounced back until the top positions, and he arrived at the finish line in fourth place, very close to the Sprint podium. The Roman rider remains fifth in the World Standings with 126 points.
Difficult race for Morbidelli, who started from the sixth place on the grid (1:31.170) but he got caught in the chaos of the first lap. Franco recovered many positions, and he went back to Top 10, showing a good pace and battling until the finish line. The #21 rider is eighth following a penalty to another rider at the end of the Sprint and he keeps the fourth position in the World Standings with 130 points.
The Italian GP will end tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 2 p.m. (local time CET).
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“At Assen it was important to restart from where we left off at Mugello and we are doing a great job so far. We still have to improve the qualifying because I struggle to get the most of the new tyre and we’ll try to understand how to make the difference in the lap time. Today the Sprint was very good, I had fun, but I would like to start battling further. Since Aragon test, where we tried more things and got to know the new bike even better, we’re building well everything. Tomorrow we will try to have a strong race.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“I had a problematic start, and I lost many positions, I was fourteenth. I tried to recover as much positions as possible, but in the Sprint there’s little time. It’s not bad at all being in eighth place, considering the start. For tomorrow, I hope to have a better start that allows us to express our potential too. This track is very demanding both physically and in terms of rear tyre. With the rear soft, we have a good pace, but it will be an unknown that we’ll need to understand well tomorrow.”
