Di Giannantonio Eyes Misano Breakthrough After Aragon Struggles

Fabio di Giannantonio is optimistic that he and the VR46 team are close to resolving the issues that have hampered his recent MotoGP form, with the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano looming as the ideal opportunity.

After beginning the season as Ducati’s strongest and most consistent rider, Di Giannantonio has hit a rough patch. His average points haul dropped from 19.3 across the first six rounds to just 13.1 over the subsequent seven weekends.

The Aragon Grand Prix was particularly painful for the Italian, which he described as his worst weekend of the year. After struggling with a lack of bike “feel” on Friday, he battled rear-end issues on Saturday and crashed out of the sprint. Sunday brought some relief as VR46 implemented bike changes, but he could only manage seventh, overtaken by returning rookie Fermin Aldeguer on the Gresini Ducati.

While declining to specify exactly what went wrong, Di Giannantonio insists the team has identified the root cause and is confident a solution is ready in time for the San Marino Grand Prix on 13 September.

“There were a few things that put us in a position where I crashed [in the sprint],” he said.

“This is the second weekend that we are having little things here and there that we must improve.”

“But the good thing is that we know exactly what’s happening. So, I really hope that we can have a consistent and normal weekend from Misano as we can have another chance to show our speed that we have not been showing since the last two weekends.”

He added: “I really hope that we can fix it at Misano. There are major chances that we can fix it.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

With nine rounds remaining, Di Giannantonio sits fourth in the standings, 48 points behind championship leader Jorge Martin.

Until three races ago, the VR46 rider held a comfortable 24-point advantage over factory Ducati’s Marc Marquez after the Dutch GP. Since then, the reigning world champion has overturned that deficit by 29 points — a 54-point swing in just three weekends.

Despite the setback, Di Giannantonio remains confident that he and his team can turn things around and finish the season strongly.

“We salvaged what we could. The only positive thing today is that we’re fourth in the championship. We took a few points from poor Ogura, who unfortunately isn’t here,” he said.

“Now we’re focusing on Misano, where I’m sure we can turn things around. We always have to work on it because there are some things that didn’t go well. But obviously, knowing what went wrong helps you a lot in working on it.”

“The only truly tough track for me in the championship, and it’s always been like that, is Austria. I hope to do better there, but I think we’ll struggle a bit. However, it’s also true that this year, on many tracks where we’ve struggled so far, we’ve managed to be fast.”

“Aragon in particular was the only track in the championship where we weren’t able to make that breakthrough. So, you have to be confident. In the end, when the weekend is smooth, the bike works very well. I’m always quite fast, so I think we have a good chance of competing. We have to be positive for Misano.”

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