#JEREZTEST: POSITIVE DEBUT FOR TEAM GRESINI RACING MOTOGP
The first day of off-season testing ahead of the 2022 season has undoubtedly been a successful one for Team Gresini Racing MotoGP, as the Faenza-based squad is back in the premier class as an independent team for the first time after seven years. On one side there was Enea Bastianini’s debut aboard the Desmosedici GP21 for Enea Bastianini, while on the other Fabio Di Giannantonio had his maiden experience aboard a MotoGP motorcycle (he is also riding a GP21 machine).
It was an ‘instant match’ between Enea Bastianini and the new bike: “tamer but more powerful” as he described it. The rider #23 spent most of the testing time in the lead before finishing third quickest – with plenty of laps completed and great confidence with both the bike and the new team.
For Fabio Di Giannantonio it was all about getting a first contact with the new reality and things surely went the right way. The Italian managed to improve his feeling lap by lap and that was shown by his personal quickest time – which came at the 48th lap, his last for the day.
The second and last opportunity for 2021 to gather further experience will be tomorrow, with the wind that could play a bigger role at Jerez de la Frontera.
3rd – ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (1’37.402 – 51 laps)
“The first impressions are good. I’m happy with the bike and with how the guys worked as a team. Let’s say it is what I was expecting: an easier bike to ride, and I felt like it had been mine for a long time already. Lap-times came quick and despite the wind I was able to set competitive times throughout the whole day. There will be work to do and issues will arise, but at the moment I’m happy. The bike is much tamer, and a lot quicker; last year’s bike had great potential, but it was really difficult to ride.”
22nd – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (1’39.628 – 48 laps)
“The best day of my life. The bike is simply fantastic as it has all the things I’ve always looked for in a motorcycle: the way of braking, the rideability inside the corner, the mid-corner and corner exit feeling, the power… everything is there. We have plenty of work to do to bridge the gap to the leaders, but I’m in awe right now. I need to understand tyres better and how to work with the electronics; there are many things I need to focus on, but the base is not a bad one.”
