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Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio

Gresini Racing Team Moto3 racer Enea Bastianini enjoyed another great qualifying session this afternoon at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit: the 18-year-old rider from Rimini set the fourth fastest time, 1’56”664, just 0.2 seconds off pole position.

A performance that will enable it to Bastianini to start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Japan from the third spot on the grid, following the penalty of three grid positions given to pole man Hiroki Ono. Enea will then start so the front row for the eighth consecutive race, ready to do battle again for another podium finish.

His teammate, rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio, has instead experienced a little more complicated qualifying session: the 18-year-old rider from Rome often slowed by traffic during his fast laps, tomorrow will start from the sixth row of the grid with the 18th fastest time, 1’57”187. “Diggia” however is not far from the fastest riders in terms of performance and remains confident that he can make a good comeback in the race tomorrow.

ENEA BASTIANINI (3rd – 1’56”664)

“I’m pretty happy with this result. This morning in the last free practice session we wanted to try the soft tyre to check the behaviour of the bike ahead of Qualifying, but a crash in the final prevented us to do so. In addition, this afternoon the track temperature was higher, there was a lot of difference compared to this morning therefore at the beginning of the qualifying session I struggled to reach a good feeling with the bike. However, in the final stages end we made some changes to the set-up that seems to work well and we managed to get the front row, which was our goal. We still need to work on the front end for the race, because at the moment I don’t have the right feeling under braking, especially when I release the brakes. Anyway, our pace is good, so we should have a good race”.

FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO (18th – 1’57”187)

“Unfortunately today we were not able to complete a good Qualifying, in fact I think it was one of the worst of the season, because I only managed to complete one or two clean laps. In the first run I got a reasonable time, then in the second exit I tried to follow some riders trying to improve, but during my fast lap there was a contact with another rider going downhill into Turn 11 and I had to slow down. Afterwards, alone, I couldn’t really improve a lot my performance and finally, in the last run, a rider slowed me down in both of my two time attacks… As a result we will start from the back and tomorrow it won’t be easy, for sure. However I’m still confident: we just need to fix a couple of things on the bike, then tomorrow we can make another good comeback in the race!”.

FAUSTO GRESINI

“Bastianini got a good lap time in today’s Qualifying, despite he said that he was not able to make the most of his potential, because he’s not yet at 100% in a couple of points of the track. Enea is still competitive and he will be in the fight for the victory tomorrow, no doubt. Di Giannantonio’s day was more complicated, his first experience on this track right now is proving to be a bit uphill, although actually his gap from the top is not so high. I’m convinced that tomorrow he will still be able to recover and have a good race”.


Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing
Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing
Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing
Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing
Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing
Another front row start for Bastianini at Motegi. Sixth row for Di Giannantonio - Gresini Racing