MARTIN BACK ON THE PODIUM WITH DIGGIA 7th AT MONTMELO
Team Del Conca Gresini Moto3 is once again on the podium of a Moto3 World Championship race this year as Jorge Martin was third at the end of the 22-lap race at Circuit de Catalunya, the seventh of the 2017 season.
The 19-year-old from Madrid fell very short of what would have been his first win in the series after leading throughout the final stages of the encounter. Jorge makes his happy return to the podium that he was missing since April 23rd, when he was second in Texas.
Fabio Di Giannantonio had a solid race, too, although the Rome-born rider had to settle for seventh place due to some front-end grip issues that affected his performance in the second half of the race. ‘Diggia’ is now fourth in the title chase, four points ahead of his team mate.
“It was a great race” says team manager Fausto Gresini “and we deserved the podium, but we were left with some bitter taste in our mouth. We were competitive straight from the get go with both riders, but we reaped less than what we sowed today.”
3rd – JORGE MARTIN #88
“It was an incredible race. Unfortunately I made a silly mistake at the start, but I was able to make it back to the front quite quickly and stay within the top-4 for almost the whole race. I’d hoped I could pull away in the last couple of laps and try to take the win but the last sector was my weak point and that’s exactly where Mir – and then Fenati – passed me on the last lap. It was important to return to the podium, however, and I’m sure once we get out first win many more will come.”
7th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“I got a great start to the race and made up three or four places. I was feeling really good on the bike in the early stages, but then we knew the grip would have faded at some point. We still have some issues with the front-end and I had to take some risks halfway through the race in order to stay with the leaders. I was trying to push hard but with little success. It was one of the most difficult races of my career and, because of that, I can be happy with a seventh-place finish.”
