Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Di Giannantontio is starting to show signs of being a serious front-running threat in MotoGP after a strong start to the season with VR46.
His Grand Prix of Qatar was unfortunately ruined a ‘scary’ collision with Alex Marquez, which his Gresini rival was blamed for.
Di Giannantonio has done well to recover from a broken collarbone sustained in pre-season and has been close on pace to teammate Franco Morbidelli.
The VR46 team have one of the fastest bikes on the grid and are in a positon to capitalise on Ducati’s dominance. A victory must come during the 2025 season.
Di Giannantonio thinks VR46 have taken a ‘big step’ by reverting to a setup that he preferred earlier in the campaign. He had race challenging pace in Qatar, which bodes well for the rest of the MotoGP season.
Team boss Pablo Nieto has admitted issues with Di Giannantonio and knows that he and Morbidelli do not have the best of relationships. It’s a difficult hurdle for the team.
Fabio Di Giannantonio convinced VR46 to sign him in one ‘nice’ meeting with Pablo Nieto
After signing with VR46 for 2024, Di Giannantonio would finish as high as fourth three times on his way to 10th in the standings.
This year, it took him three races to beat that record, with third at COTA. He seems to have a lot more pace at his disposal and is finally coming good on promises he made to his bosses before joining the team.
Nieto has shared the untold story of how the Italian rider approached the team in a bid to leave Gresini during the 2023 season.
“We did this and I think I never told, we had a nice meeting that he wanted to do with me in Malaysia. At the beginning, I have to tell the truth. It wasn’t in our plan. He wasn’t a rider who [we wanted],” he said.
“It’s true [he] was starting to do very well, he had a good race but it wasn’t our plan. When we [Nieto and Salucci] had that meeting with him, we finished the meeting, we looked at each other, I said ‘Now, now, now.’ It’s true it was like this.
“He looked us in the eye and said ‘Look, give me this opportunity that I’m 100% convinced that I can do well and I can give you back everything you’re doing for us.’ From there started this beautiful duo that we are doing now together.”
How Fabio Di Giannantonio has been unlucky during the 2025 MotoGP season
Di Giannantonio rocked up in Buriram for the start of the MotoGP season with less preparation than most of his rivals.
Despite his lack of time on the new bike, he still managed to finish 10th in the race and showed some respectable pace.
He built on that performance with fifth in Argentina and bettered that yet again with third during the Grand Prix of the Americas.
He grew frustrated in Texas after a clash with Morbidelli during the sprint. He could have managed a better result.
Frustration would be a theme at the most recent round in Qatar too. After showing race-winning pace, Marquez took him out after just four laps.
His heroic reflexes would save Jorge Martin from further injury late in the race, which was a small consolation for a poor weekend.
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