Niccolo Antonelli completed his first laps of the Estoril circuit in impressive fashion, lapping ninth quickest during this morning’s opening free practice for the Grand Prix of Portugal despite the damp track surface. In windy conditions and on a slippery track the youngster once again showed glimpses of his huge talent although he struggled to match the pace of the frontrunners in the dry second session this afternoon.
Niccolo’ Antonelli
(Free Practice 1 – 9th 1’ 58” 938 / Free Practice 2nd — 20th 1’ 51” 188)
“I felt good with the bike this morning even though I could have done with more feeling with the front and then in the afternoon I lost my confidence altogether. The bike felt unrideable and maybe I should have come in sooner to give the guys more time to change it but I was keen to stay out and learn the track. Now we will look at the data to try and improve things for tomorrow.”
Fausto Gresini
“It has been a difficult day on a new track. Unfortunately Niccolò wasn’t able to repeat his form this morning during the afternoon session so we will try to understand why that happened. We need to stay calm and prepare as well as we can for an important qualifying session tomorrow.”
