MARTIN HAPPY WITH QUALIFYING RESULT AT MOTEGI
The 2017 Japanese Grand Prix has witnessed what might have been the most challenging qualifying session of the season for Team Del Conca Gresini Moto3, with their riders Jorge Martin and Fabio Di Giannantonio unable to qualify higher than seventh and seventeenth, respectively.
The drying asphalt of the Twin Ring Motegi did not help the two young riders, who had to adapt their riding style to the different grip levels encountered during the sessions.
Normally used to different qualifying performances, Jorge Martin had to settle for seventh place, which is his third-worst result of the season – albeit the first two being scored when still injured at Spielberg and Silverstone. From the first spot of the third row, all Martin needs is a good start in order not to lose touch with the front runners.
After a good start to the weekend in FP1, Fabio Di Giannantonio’s performance became more difficult session after session (his best lap-time of free practice was set in FP1) and, in qualifying, despite a decent last time, he was not able to finish any higher than 17th.
The rider number 21 will be forced to yet another comeback in the fourth-last race of the season, which will get underway at 11:00 local time (GMT +9)
7th – JORGE MARTIN #88
“It was a positive day after all. We managed to improve lap by lap and I think there was something in my head that needed to be solved after the crash at Misano. We lapped in the 2’08s and that’s a good result. With these conditions and looking at how things went recently, the goal tomorrow will be to finish the race in the points and make as much experience as possible.”
17th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“We made a set-up change from yesterday but it didn’t work out, so we went back and I have to say that we improved our pace in qualifying – although that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a great session for us, but with these conditions it could have been worse. Tomorrow all I need to do is to keep my head down and have a good race.”
