CRAZY SATURDAY AT SACHSENRING: ALEX IN Q2, TOUGH LUCK FOR DIGGIA
Two crashes ruined an otherwise good Friday in Germany for Team Gresini MotoGP, who will have some extra work to do today to fix the Desmosedici machines #49 and #73 ahead of tomorrow. It was a pity especially for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who missed the chance of battling for the direct seed to Q2 after showing that it was well within reach. Alex Marquez managed to get through anyway, and with a 9th place he will surely have a more relaxed FP3.
The Italian rider managed to stay with the leaders for the whole opening day. His crash at turn 11 happened at the worst time of all – with three minutes left in the session, as the youngster from Rome could not defend his position from his rivals’ charge in what was the best moment, conditions-wise, after the morning rain.
Marquez crashed slightly further into the lap (turn 13) during what could have been his fastest lap of the day (he was +0.008secs away from today’s best lap-time in the third split).
9th – ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’20.671s)
“It was a positive day: I managed to be quick straight away and FP1 was a good session. Without the rain we managed to continue the work done with the bike and everything went well. Too bad for the crash during the last time attack because it was a really good lap, but that’s what Fridays are also for: to find the limit. We’re in Q2, so mission accomplished for now.”
11th – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO (1’20.799s)
“I’m disappointed, even though I must say we’ve been constantly quick today, so it was also an encouraging day. We did everything perfectly timing-wise and with the tyre choice. I entered the track and got a yellow flag and then a red one. Once we made our way back to the track the tyre had lost a lot of temperature and thus I crashed. Here tyre-temperature is key, especially at turn 11 which is the first right-hander after many to the left. We were not lucky today, but we’re charged up for tomorrow.”
