Fabio di Giannantonio's “big question mark” from Aragon test is answered

Fabio di Giannantonio has quietly delivered his strongest ever start to a MotoGP season and arrives at Assen confident that last weekend’s Mugello podium answered the “big question mark” from Aragon.

The VR46 Ducati rider is currently fifth in the world championship, with two grand prix podiums from the opening nine rounds.

However, those ahead of him include not only fellow GP25 riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia but the satellite GP24 duo of Alex Marquez (second) and VR46 team-mate Morbidelli (fourth).

Like Bagnaia, di Giannantonio has struggled with front-end feedback from the GP25, previously describing the sensation as a kind of "filter".

While the larger 355mm front brake discs that helped Bagnaia at Aragon didn’t suit him, di Giannantonio and the VR46 team made progress with alternative changes during the post-race test.

But would it carry over to a different circuit?

“The big question mark was after the Aragon Test, if all the things that we tried would also work at another racetrack, which was Mugello,” Di Giannantonio confirmed on Thursday at Assen.

“And they worked.

“So, I'm pretty confident that also here we can do a good job. We can keep working in the same way as the last two weeks more or less, and continue to have this kind of performance.

“The goal is to keep having fun on the bike, finally, retake the positive feelings with the front of the bike and push like we did in the last race in Mugello.”

At Mugello, the Italian rose from seventh on the grid to fifth in the Sprint and then third in the grand prix, overtaking factory Ducati rider Bagnaia for the final podium spot in the closing laps.

di Giannantonio was also the only GP25 rider to debut Ducati’s latest fairing over the Mugello MotoGP weekend.

Now, he arrives at Assen for the 100th anniversary of the Dutch TT with growing confidence.

“This is the ‘Cathedral of Speed’,” he said. “It’s an iconic track, super fast, with a lot of crazy battles back in the days in many categories; 125, 250, Moto3, Moto2, MotoGP, 500.

“I also remember many great battles in World Superbike between Chili, Fogarty, Bayliss, because I was cheering a lot for Ducati and Troy.

“So being here now, racing the 100th TT, feels so special. We just miss an historical livery to celebrate!

“You can feel the passion and the racing spirit here. It’s always good to race here again.”

After Thursday rain, dry and mild conditions are forecast for the rest of the Dutch MotoGP weekend, which di Giannantonio will start just eight points behind Morbidelli.