Gresini Racing Team Moto3 racers Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio were forced to retire in today’s Australian Grand Prix at the Phillip Island circuit: after a great start from the sixth and seventh row of the grid and both already in the leading group after just two laps, the two 18-year-old riders were faultlessly involved in race incidents in which they could not avoid the crash.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, who started down in 19th place and incredibly third at the beginning of the third lap, was touched by Gabriel Rodrigo on the fourth lap: a contact which caused him to lose the front end and led him to crash, involving also Francesco Bagnaia.
The incident that unfortunately took out of the race also Enea Bastianini occurred shortly after, on lap six: the rider from Rimini could not avoid the bike of John McPhee crashed in front of him and he fell, then being hit later by Jorge Navarro’s bike. Later Enea had a CT scan which revealed the presence of a fracture of the T9 vertebra and of one rib: a decision on his participation in the Malaysian Grand Prix will be made in the coming days, after further checks on his physical condition.
Bastianini: I have a crack vertebra
“In the first laps I was able to recover many positions and my the feeling with the bike was good: I felt I had the pace to stay in the leading group. Then, on the sixth lap, McPhee lost the front and fell in front of me and Migno. I could not avoid his bike, I crashed and while I was on the ground Navarro hit me. The checks showed that a vertebra was cracked, so now I just need to get some rest, then in the next days we will see if I can race in Malaysia”.
Di Giannantonio: I think I could get a good result
“It’s a real shame, because I had a perfect start and the first two laps of the race were probably the best of my career! I was able to recover many positions and I found myself in the leading group, then at some point I saw that Binder was starting to push hard, so I tried to overtake Bagnaia at the hairpin. Rodrigo, however, came very fast on the inside: I only saw him on the last moment and I couldn’t do anything to avoid a contact. He touched me, making me lose the front and I crashed, involving Bagnaia. I was doing a great race and I think I could get a good result: I’m very sorry because I really loved this track from the first moment and especially I could collect important points for the Rookie of the Year trophy”.
Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko