di Giannantonio: 'VR46 rebuilt my bike from zero, I don't want to say how much it cost!'
VR46 rebuilt Fabio di Giannantonio’s destroyed Ducati ahead of a seventh-place finish in the Qatar MotoGP.
Seventh place may not sound like much to be pleased about for 2023 Qatar MotoGP winner Fabio di Giannantonio.
But Lusail was far from a straightforward weekend and the new VR46 rider said he was going home “with a big smile”.
Fast throughout the pre-season, di Giannantonio qualified seventh on the grid, just 0.058s behind the top GP23 of Gresini successor Marc Marquez.
But his Sprint race came to a frightening end when he highsided on the third lap, landing heavily on his left foot before narrowly scrambling out of the path of the following riders.
“Luckily, everybody saw me,” di Giannantonio said. “But then the bike went straight on [into the barrier]. I don't want to say how much it costs for the team to repair!”
The VR46 crew worked late into the night to get the bike back into one piece for Sunday's grand prix where a limping di Giannantonio was up to sixth place on the opening lap.
“I want to thank so much the team,” di Giannantonio said. “The crash was pretty big for the bike itself, and the bike was OK for the race, so they did an amazing job through the night to rebuild the bike from zero."
However, an inconsistent braking issue caused the Italian to overstress his front tyre and he spent much of the 21 laps in eighth place before passing a fading Pedro Acosta in the closing stages.
“It's been not an easy weekend for us. We had the speed, but it has been a bit of a roller coaster,” Diggia reflected.
“In the race, I had some brake issues, the brakes were not stable in every braking. So I was trying a little bit to understand how much I was braking and this made a snowball effect with the front tyre [wear], which I destroyed quite early.
“But if we make seventh position in a tough race, I think we should be happy because it means we are strong and have great potential this year. It’s also just my first race with this team.
"So it’s a good start. We should go back home with a big smile... Last year I would have signed to start P7!”
di Giannantonio, the big improver of the 2023 campaign, began last season just 16th and last in the Portimao Sprint before retiring from the grand prix.
Team-mate Marco Bezzecchi finished 14th in Qatar on Sunday.
