Bastianini takes control on opening day at Misano. Di Giannantonio fifth
The first day of free practice for the Grand Prix of San Marino and Riviera di Rimini, scheduled for this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, kicked off with another positive performance for the Gresini Racing Team Moto3, which placed both riders in the top five of today’s free practices combined classification, with Enea Bastianini fastest in 1’42”805 and Fabio Di Giannantonio fifth in 1’43”417
Winner at Misano last year, Bastianini thus confirmed himself at the top on his home track on a day that saw him leading the way right from the morning session: the 18-year-old from Rimini then improved his performance in the afternoon, staying in front of Championship leader Brad Binder.
His teammate Di Giannantonio instead had some difficulties in the first practice session, but then he was been able to progress working well with the team, significantly lowering his lap time in the afternoon and taking fifth spot.
ENEA BASTIANINI (1st – 1’42”805)
“I’m happy with how it went the first day, because already in the morning session I was able to be fast and the feeling with the bike was good. In the afternoon with higher temperatures the track became more slippery, but we were still able to improve a little and stay in front of everyone, so we can be satisfied. However, it’s only Friday and tomorrow it won’t be easy, definitely: there are many riders who are strong, especially Binder, who is always very competitive. Tomorrow in qualifying the target is the front row, it will be important for the race”.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO (5th – 1’43”417)
“The day didn’t start very well this morning: in the first session, with the set-up that we have been using since four races, I was not feeling really comfortable on the bike. However, in the second session we worked well as usual, bringing back good sensations and also setting a good lap time. Tomorrow we can still improve: not much, because today we already saw very good lap times, but we are going to analyze all the data to try to shave a few tenths!”.
FAUSTO GRESINI
“We expected to be competitive here at Misano and at the moment we are in line with expectations: on a track where he has always been very fast Enea took immediately the lead from the first free practice session, and in the afternoon also Di Giannantonio was able to improve, solving some issues encountered in the morning. We can therefore be pleased with this first day: we look forward to tomorrow’s Qualifying with confidence, knowing that it will be important to get a good position on the grid for the race, as always”.
