‘The bike is strange’ - The bizarre Ducati issue affecting one VR46 MotoGP rider
Fabio Di Giannantonio says he effectively has only had one bike to use in recent rounds
VR46 MotoGP rider Fabio Di Giannantonio says he has effectively only been able to use one Ducati in recent rounds because the other is “really strange”.
The Italian enjoyed a strong Friday at the San Marino Grand Prix, ending the day fourth overall on his 2026-spec Ducati.
But he did so using only one of his bikes, as the other has been “like one second more off the pace” than his standard machine.
He says this has been a persistent issue since Silverstone, with the VR46 team unsure what the issue is, having changed everything on the bike since his crashes at the Sachsenring.
“Yeah, well in terms of feeling and performance, I think we've done a really good job because, at the end we were fast on the softs, we were fast on the mediums,” Fabio Di Giannantonio said on Friday at Misano.
“So, definitely a good day. A pity that we still have only one bike; with the other bikes still the feeling is not there.
“So yeah, positive, but still we want to work a little to find the other bike in a good shape.”
He added: “Honestly, three races now that I only use one bike, because the other bike is like one second more off the pace.
“So we are changing pieces, trying to understand what's happening, but still it's not really there.
“So I'm really happy today, for the feeling that I got on the standard bike, because if I need another bike at the moment, I don't have.
“So I'm really slow on the work because I cannot do comparisons; I just have to use mine and do small changes if I want to, because if I want to come back I need to be really fast.
“Since Sachsenring, it happened - well, actually since Silverstone.
“But we changed everything potentially damaged from Sachsenring crashes, but still the bike is not working normally, so we still don't know. I thought that we knew, but we don’t.”
Di Giannantoino added that the problem bike was the one he crashed on at Aragon, too, while the issue means he is unable to take “risks” with set-up work during race weekends.
“I said in Aragon too that our weekend was not that linear and we were not able to try things and to take risks,” he said.
“I said that I wanted to take more risks on the set-up and on the changes, but finally I couldn't.
“The bike is also the one that I crashed Friday morning in Aragon; the bike is really strange, so at the moment it's slowing us a little bit. For this, I'm really happy that we are fast, at least.”
