VR46 MotoGP rider crashed after surprise gust of wind: “I saw umbrellas flying!”
Fabio di Giannantonio caught out by gust of wind during Jerez MotoGP test.
A surprise gust of wind shook up an otherwise ‘OK’ day for Fabio di Giannantonio during the post-race MotoGP test at Jerez.
The Italian was tenth fastest overall on the timesheets, but said time attacks were never a priority. Instead, his focus was on working with his VR46 technical crew as well as some developments for Ducati.
“It was so important for us to understand what I need,” di Giannantonio said. “At the end, [the crew] know me just from races. We never did a test together. So it was important to work a little bit on the setup and try things to make them understand the direction.”
Ducati provided some parts, including one component, revisited from winter testing, which the Italian said he liked. Otherwise, it was the opportunity to test in a calmer, race-pace-focused environment that proved most valuable.
“We just went there with the cruise control on race pace and tried a few things. It was an OK day,” he said. “We didn’t focus on the time attack because it was not necessary.”
Fabio di Giannantonio crashes for unusual reason
The only drama came when di Giannantonio suddenly found himself on the ground at Turn 13, crashing without warning in the gusty conditions.
“I had a huge gust of wind in that moment. It was a good lap, but not like a track record, just a normal lap time - and I completely lost the front,” he explained.
“I was not understanding what happened, then I saw all the umbrellas from the marshals flying away! Luckily, I was OK.”
With one podium already under his belt and consistent top-five form, di Giannantonio insists there’s no need to try any radical changes to his factory-spec Ducati GP25.
“We’ve done almost every time top five this year, with a podium. So it means that we are really fast and the feeling is already there. The bike is working,” he said.
“In my case, it doesn’t make sense [to make big changes]. We just need a few things to maximise the performance.”
The Italian, who missed most of pre-season testing due to injury, heads to the next round at Le Mans holding fifth in the world championship.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
