Worrying ‘unexpected’ Ducati issue hinders one VR46 rider in Jerez MotoGP sprint

VR46 Ducati MotoGP rider Fabio Di Giannantonio says he suffered an ‘unexpected’ vibration from his rear tyre which hindered his Spanish Grand Prix sprint.

The rear tyre Michelin introduced in 2024 led to a number of manufacturers struggling with vibration issues.

Ducati was the first to get on top of this, while only KTM now seems to struggle the most with it still in the early rounds of 2025.

But the issue cropped up for VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in Saturday’s 12-lap sprint at Jerez, with the Italian struggling to advance on sixth having qualified eighth.

“It has been a tough race, actually,” he said.

“We got some vibration from the rear that we didn’t expect.

“So, it was quite tough, especially in the last four, five laps of the race.

“I did a good start, I was there, I attacked Maverick, I overtook him and I think I was a little faster than Fermin [Aldeguer].

“But it was quite difficult to make a move on him.

“So, it was a boring race somehow because at the end nobody was attacking.

“For sure we have to work for tomorrow to try to be the guy on the move and try to pick up some places. But I’m good with P6.”

Franco Morbidelli left “worried” after big FP2 crash

Di Giannantonio’s VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli suffered a big crash on Saturday morning during FP2 at Turn 3.

He was able to walk away from the fast spill and go on to finish fourth in the sprint after starting from fifth on the grid, though admits he was “really worried” he wouldn’t have been able to take part at all.

“I’m just happy that this morning nothing happened,” he said.

“I had a big crash and I went against the air fences. I was really worried before the race.

“I was feeling a lot of pain in my neck, but we were able to fix me enough to make the qualifying and then to make the sprint. So, I’m just happy nothing serious happened.”