Italian teenager Niccolo Antonelli made a bright start to his Grand Prix career after finishing tenth fastest in practice at Losail. The 16 year old is the reigning Italian 125cc Champion and justified his status as one of the names to watch out for in Moto3 on Thursday, a performance he was proud of.
“Tonight was the night of my debut and it was very exciting. I tried to get to know the track during the first session and I have to say I like it a lot, especially under the lights. We had a small problem with the bike in the second session that cost me some time but thanks to the mechanics I was able to get back out on track and set the tenth fastest time. Overall I don’t think it was a bad debut.”
San Carlo Gresini Moto3's team manager, Fausto Gresini, was impressed with his rookie rider and expects him to get better and better as the weekend goes on.
“That is a good start and we have to be happy. Niccolò is the top Italian in the class tonight with the tenth fastest time overall and that’s very positive. It was his debut, he was excited, but his performance was above expectations. He was very focused and stayed calm when we had the problem with his bike in the second session, which is unusual in such a young rider. It is still early days and I think Niccolò can improve further.”