Wait Is Over For Bastianini And Di Giannantonio As Floodlights Beckon At Losail
The wait is finally over: the 2016 Moto3 World Championship kicks off this weekend at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Gresini Racing Team Moto3 racers Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio are ready to race in the season opener, which promises to be hard fought according to the results of winter testing.
Enea Bastianini, who finished second last year, is starting the season with a lot of confidence, conscious of having done good winter tests: the 18-year-old rider from Rimini ended the Jerez official test very close to the top, then in Qatar he continued to work well on the set up of his Honda NSF250RW machine to prepare the race weekend.
For his teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, the Grand Prix of Qatar represents the debut in the World Championship: the 17-year-old rookie from Rome embarked on a good growth path during testing and the stated objective for these first races is to continue to learn, in order to get closer to the fastest during the season.
The 18-lap race will start on Sunday at 6.00 pm local time, 4.00 pm CET.
ENEA BASTIANINI
“During the recent tests conducted here at Losail many riders were very fast: we will therefore have to deal with tough rivals and certainly it won’t be easy to stay on top. Nevertheless we are feeling comfortable and we feel ready: we have found different set-up solutions that work well and even if we missed the fast lap during final test, we are happy with the race pace. I feel that we have all it takes to be in the game, now we only wait to start, to see how it goes”.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“Although the target of every rider is to win, I’m aware of being only at the beginning, so I will face my first season taking my feet on the ground: watching the recent test results, to stay in the top 20 could be a realistic goal for my first race, although I’d like be in the top 15. However, the most important thing will still try to learn as much as possible, taking full advantage of the experience of the team and my, in order to grow race after race”.
FAUSTO GRESINI
“In the final test we have done here in Losail, Bastianini worked very well with the team so he’s confident ahead of the first Grand Prix. Although he missed the fast lap, I’m convinced that Enea will be in the game at the right time. In a few days we will start to get things serious and we know we have all it takes to fight with our rivals, who are still very strong. Di Giannantonio did some good winter testing, especially in the last day of testing in Qatar put on display a nice rhythm making good progress. Fabio is learning, but it takes time and it’s normal: we have built around him a very experienced team to accompany him on this path of growth”.
