Fastest rookie Di Giannantonio 'super happy' with MotoGP debut
Fabio Di Giannantonio may have been ranked behind Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi in this year's Moto2 world championship, but he emerged fastest of the 2022 MotoGP rookies in their first official test, at Jerez.
Riding for the new Gresini Ducati team, the Italian was 22nd out of 27 riders after his first day on the Desmosedici GP21, when Fernandez was top newcomer for Tech3 KTM.
Di Giannantonio was then delighted to start day two with the same lap time, going on to cut 1.1s from his best over 45 windy laps.
That put the triple grand prix winner 19th overall, 1.656s from factory Ducati pace setter Francesco Bagnaia but only one-second behind the next best riders and 0.163s ahead of Fernandez.
Gardner, who like team-mate Fernandez had some previous MotoGP laps at Misano, was 22nd, with Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) 25th and Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha) - jumping straight from Moto3 to MotoGP- 26th.
"We just started this morning with the setting as we left the track yesterday. So I was super happy because on my first run I was already as fast as the day before," confirmed di Giannantonio.
"We started to work a bit on the electronic side of the bike, to try to understand well to improve on more power, less power and all the controls we have at the moment. At the end I was improving my feeling.
"It's a pity that the day is a bit ruined by the wind, because the conditions were a bit critical. There is a lot of grip but a lot of wind, so especially in the fast corners now the MotoGP bikes have the wings so it's difficult to control the bike in the fast corners.
"But overall I'm super happy."
di Giannantonio said the start of the new MotoGP adventure had instantly refreshed him after a mentally draining Moto2 campaign.
"Honestly coming to Valencia, I was so tired mentally most of all. But now I don’t want to stop, I would like to have more tests or a race to continue to learn the MotoGP!" he smiled.
Seventh in this year's Moto2 standings, the highlight of di Giannantonio's season was undoubtedly the emotional win, at the same Jerez circuit in May, which he dedicated to late team boss Fausto Gresini.
"I have goosebumps because Gresini is the team that believed in me since the beginning," 'digia' said. "They gave me the opportunity to arrive in the world championship and to achieve great results in Moto3, then achieve great results in Moto2 and then make my debut in the premier-class.
"It's something amazing. I'm just so grateful."
Team-mate Enea Bastianini, arriving at Gresini and the GP21 after a rookie season highlighted by two podiums on a GP19 at Avintia, was eighth fastest after just 25 laps on the final day.
“The wind was too strong so I chose to not throw away the good things we had done. We were always quick, even race-pace wise," Bastianini said. "We did not turn the set-up around: we only did a few little changes to be even more comfortable on the bike.
"Ducati’s DNA hasn’t changed, but the bike has improved in all areas. I must admit I was quick even with the wind, which is a condition that doesn’t suit me well.”
As a rookie, di Giannantonio will be back on track at the Sepang Shakedown test at the end of January, with Bastianini then joining the action when the official test begins at the start of February.
