Home advantage delivered in style at Misano on Friday, as Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli both cracked the top five and locked up direct passage to Saturday’s qualifying in front of their own crowd.
VR46 Misano Q2 Double Locked In
Di Giannantonio opened his home weekend with a top ten finish in FP1, then built steadily through the day. In the afternoon Practice session he sharpened his pace on both tyre compounds and set a best lap of 1’30.385s, good for fourth on the timesheet. That result sent the Rome native straight into Q2 without a detour through Q1.
Morbidelli made an even bigger jump. The Italian-Brazilian was thirteenth after FP1, then rose into the top ten during Practice with a lap of 1’30.415s. The time held up for fifth at the flag, confirming his own direct route into Q2 and completing a clean VR46 Misano Q2 double for the home team.
Rossi’s Visit Lifts the Garage
Di Giannantonio said his medium tyre pace stood out and that braking still needs sharpening before qualifying. He added that Valentino Rossi spent Friday in the pit box, reviewing data alongside the crew, and called the visit a lift whenever the team boss is trackside. Morbidelli described a familiar feeling on the bike, saying Friday let the team unlock more of its potential than usual at Misano. He praised the Ducati package’s strength at the circuit while stressing the team is staying grounded ahead of qualifying.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team returns to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Saturday, with qualifying starting at 10:50 am local time and the Sprint following at 3:00 pm. Franco Morbidelli and his teammate will look to carry Friday’s form into the San Marino Grand Prix, which closes out the weekend on Sunday at 2:00 pm, with home fans hoping for a result to match the occasion. Full Friday practice results are available on the official MotoGP site.
