Fabio Di Giannantonio marked his return from the summer break with a strong third place in Friday practice at Silverstone, securing a direct spot in Saturday’s Qualifying 2. Meanwhile, teammate Franco Morbidelli showed encouraging pace but will start Saturday in Qualifying 1 after finishing fourteenth.
Di Giannantonio Shines in Silverstone MotoGP Practice
Right from his opening laps, Di Giannantonio looked comfortable on the MotoGP bike again. He finished FP1 in fifth place, then pushed forward in the afternoon to post a best lap of 1’56.678. As a result, the Roman rider claimed third overall, behind Aprilia riders Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez. Consequently, Di Giannantonio avoided Saturday’s early qualifying session and heads straight into Q2.
Morbidelli Battles Through Silverstone MotoGP Practice
Similarly, Morbidelli found his rhythm quickly, finishing FP1 in ninth place. Throughout the afternoon, he held a strong position among the frontrunners and lowered his best time to 1’57.753. However, a mistake on new tyres during his final flying lap cost him a Q2 spot. Therefore, the Italian Brazilian rider must fight through Q1 on Saturday morning to reach the main qualifying session.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team returns on Saturday for Qualifying, which begins at 11:50 a.m. local time (UTC+1), followed by the Sprint at 4:00 p.m. local time. Afterward, the British Grand Prix concludes on Sunday with the main race starting at 1:00 p.m. local time.
FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
“It was good to be back on a MotoGP bike,” said Di Giannantonio. “This morning was tough, but I had fun. We knew today would not be easy, so our goal was to stay close to the front. We returned to our early season setup, which had worked well, and we felt good right away. It was a positive day, and now we need to keep pushing tomorrow.”
FRANCO MORBIDELLI
Morbidelli shared a similar view. “It was an intense day. We kept our pace well, and I had good feelings on the bike. Unfortunately, new tyres for the time attack brought too many mistakes, so we could not reach Q2. Even so, our overall performance is good, especially in race pace. We just need to improve the time attack.”
