JEREZ: GREAT COMEBACK TO 5TH FOR DIGGIA AS MARTIN IS 9TH
The fourth race of the 2017 Moto3 World Championship at ‘Circuito de Jerez’ was not as rewarding as expected for Team Del Conca Gresini Moto3: after an incredible start from pole position, Jorge Martin was unable to challenge at the front of the field for honours like he did in the first three encounters of the season. The performance of the 19-year-old from Madrid was affected by a small technical issue, which did not allow him to be aggressive under braking; Martin, in fact, was able to complete only one overtaking manoeuvre throughout the whole race and was ninth at the flag. After four races completed in the season, Martin is now third in the championship standings with a 14-point gap from the top.
Fabio Di Giannantonio’s race, on the other hand, had a very different trend. Following a difficult qualifying session, the young Italian got a great launch from 11th place on the grip and managed to display a great race pace on board his NSF250RW machine. ‘Diggia’ spent almost the entirety of the race at the back of the group fighting for honours, but after getting the better of Migno he made a mistake at turn one on the final lap, which cost him the fight for the podium positions. Fabio is still sixth in the title race, now with 35 points.
The next race of the Moto3 World Championship will take place at France’s Le Mans circuit in a fortnight’s time.
5th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #21
“It was a good race, especially after a disappointing qualifying session. I gave 100%, even a bit more as we’re still a bit behind in terms of bike setup, which means that we still have some work to do. I’m happy because I was able to stay with the leaders for the majority of the race. I was right there to battle for the podium in the end, but I made a mistake and that was it.”
9th – JORGE MARTIN #88
“The strategy was to save the tyres for the last part of the race but, to be honest, I was never able to ride at my best. I wasn’t feeling comfortable on the bike, up to the point that I was able to make a pass only towards the end of the race, and that wasn’t an easy one either! We need to accept this result and move forward: we had a problem with the brake which affected my performance on both corner entry and exit, while the tyres wore off pretty fast. This is racing, though: we were on top yesterday, while today just ninth. We will make up for it in Le Mans!”
