Di Giannantonio nearly makes top-5 at Silverstone
Fabio Di Giannantonio brings VR46 to sixth place in the British Grand Prix. A result slightly below expectations for the Roman rider, who had anticipated the superiority of Aprilia but hoped to be the best Ducati rider in light of Marc Marquez’s huge difficulties. Indeed, Diggia is ahead of the world champion, but he cannot keep up with his brother Alex’s pace. And in the end, he also has to give way to Pedro Acosta, who was good at defending the top-5 in the final stages.
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Today’s result brings important points, but it is clear that the overall picture at Ducati is very negative. The Roman thus responds to Francesco Bagnaia, who sounded the “alarm clock” to the team in front of what he calls a “very big wake-up call“.
Di Giannantonio’s words
“The alarm clock did not go off today. Since the second race of the season, I have been saying that Aprilia did a better job than us this winter and maybe last year too. They are ahead of us, and we have to work harder. We need to find some new developments to try to improve the bike, we have turned it upside down but we need a step forward if we want to try to win races“, these were the words to Sky Sport MotoGP. “Otherwise, we have a great bike, very consistent. In the end, on all tracks we are always quite fast, but we are not in a position to win as of today“.
Read more Marquez admits fault: “The tire was fine, I didn’t do a good job. But at most I could have been 5th”
“In most races this year, when Aprilia was in form, they placed three or four riders ahead, and they played a different sport, while we were chasing“, he added. “We lack a more precise front end, we need to improve the chassis, because there is more room for growth. In terms of the engine, we are well placed, but even having 1 km/h more gives you a non-decisive gain. Aprilias are now very strong in tire management, which comes from how they set up the corners: we can do it for three laps, then we struggle“.
Number 49 remains in fifth place in the riders’ World Championship and can still have a say for the very top positions: the gap to Jorge Martin is wide but not insurmountable (41 points), while second place is only 10 points away.
Read more Bagnaia: “It can’t go on like this. A very big wake-up call, the team must react”
