Fabio di Giannantonio “finds the flow”, splits Marquez brothers in Friday practice

Fabio di Giannantonio defied his healing shoulder and leapt to second on the timesheets at the end of Friday practice for the Argentina MotoGP, splitting Marc and Alex Marquez in an all-Ducati top three.

The result was a vast improvement on the Italian’s tenth place at the Buriram season opener, as he continues to make up for lost testing time.

“We worked so well with the team during practice,” the VR46 rider told MotoGP.com.

“Every run we were improving the bike, then I had just the last shot to make that lap time.

“I said, ‘OK, you know you have a great package, just enjoy, relax, and try to find that flow that you know you have’. 

"And it was there, the flow again.

“I'm so happy. Also because I was not feeling that flow since the last races of last year, but even maybe earlier, because with this shoulder I've been struggling a lot.

“But it has worked out. So super happy and proud, especially for the team.”

"I took the biscuit, now I want more!"

“Every lap is just better and better and better,” he added. “I don't know the bike. I don't know the [new members of] team. So we still have a lot of margin, I guess.

“This little result gives you that kind of feeling and adrenaline. 

“It's like when you have a puppy and give it a little biscuit, then he wants more and more!

“It's the same for me, I took the biscuit and now I want more! After a tough period, I'm enjoying myself again.”

Riding through the pain

Nonetheless, di Giannantonio doesn’t expect to regain full fitness in his shoulder for at least another few weeks.

“For sure the shoulder is not good. Sometimes when I ride, it disturbs me, it's a bit annoying.

“But I arrived here with another approach. I wanted to arrive here focused on riding, focused not on the result itself, but to go fast.

“We know we have the pain, so let's get to work. So that's the mood of this weekend, just focus and do what you can with what you have.”

Morbidelli heads for Qualifying 1

Team-mate Franco Morbidelli, fourth in the Thai season opener, missed out on direct Qualifying 2 access with twelfth place on Friday.

“I wasn’t feeling good in the fast corners," Morbidelli explained. "But I was almost in Q2. 

"Tomorrow the fight for the Q2 spots will be very tricky. But I’m confident and I trust my team, even if today was not perfect, we did the maximum and I’m sure we will improve on Saturday. 

"The goal is to secure the Q2 place and then fight for the best place possible on the grid to be as close as I can to the top guys in the Sprint.”