Thrilling battles and a lot of adrenaline were the main ingredients of the Qatar GP for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. In Sunday’s race there was no shortage of twists and challenges, but Franco Morbidelli secured his second podium of the weekend with the third place. Fabio Di Giannantonio too showed a great potential too, despite the bad luck forced him to finish in sixteenth place.
Amazing start for Morbidelli, who was fourth on the grid. He was leading the race for the first 10 laps and he battled a lot to defend the Top3, finishing in fourth place. Franco got the podium after the chequered flag following a penalty to another rider. It’s the second podium of the weekend and of the season for the #21. Morbidelli keeps the fourth place in the World Standing with 78 points.
Unlucky race for Di Giannantonio, who was fifth on the grid, but a contact with another rider in the early stages relegated him to the back of the grid. Fabio put in a great comeback showing an excellent pace that would allow him to fight for the podium. Unfortunately, he finished the race in sixteenth place after a challenging Qatar GP. Di Giannantonio is still fifth in the World Standing with 48 points.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team leads the Independent Team World Standing with 126 points and they are ready to continue like this in Jerez de la Frontera. MotoGP returns to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix from April 25th to 27th.
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 49
“It has been an eventful race, my start was really good, and I was fighting for the top positions. We had the potential to be on the podium, then a strange and dangerous maneuver from another rider affected my race. It’s a pity, I got completely ruled out from any chance of doing a good race, we have to work to avoid these mistakes. Later in the race, I had an incident with Jorge Martin, but I am happy that he seems ok somehow, and that’s the most important thing, we all know how dangerous this sport is. Anyway, we did an incredible job this weekend, we were incredibly fast.”
Franco Morbidelli – 21
“I am very happy with this podium. It’s a shame for Maverick Vinales, who had an incredible race, however, we took third place and I’m happy. I think this result is the right ending to this weekend, in the race I felt very strong and I had finished fourth. I was able to get a good start and took the lead. I felt good about the pace and was ahead of everyone, but then I had a tire drop. We are starting to become really consistent, in the first four races we always finished in Top4 or Top5, so we are accomplishing our goals so far. Valentino’s presence was key and I’m happy, he deserved to see this result.”
