Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Di Giannantonio finished an impressive second at the Australian Grand Prix, coming home as the highest-ranked Ducati rider on the GP25.
The VR46 rider felt a victory could have been possible, having struggled in qualifying as he lined up 10th. Diggia displayed strong pace in the closing stages of the race to climb to P2, but he could not get close enough for victory as Raul Fernandez took his first MotoGP win.
It was an encouraging performance from the Italian after what has been a difficult season. He has struggled to get to grips with the GP25 this season, much like Francesco Bagnaia, who suffered his third retirement in four races at Phillip Island.
The GP25 has become a contentious issue in the MotoGP paddock in recent weeks after the two-time champion tested GP24 parts at Misano. These changes led Bagnaia to victory at Motegi, only to crash out in both the Indonesian and Australian Grand Prix.
Ducati took a vow of silence over any changes to his bike, while Bagnaia has started giving blunt answers in media debriefs over the matter. His woeful performances at Mandalika and Phillip Island have now prompted questions about Di Giannantonio’s machine.
Fabio Di Giannantonio is deflecting ‘incessant’ questions about what spec his Ducati bike is, just like Pecco Bagnaia
Bagnaia and Digga have the ‘same problems’ with the GP25, while Marc Marquez has adapted seamlessly to the machine and has dominated the 2025 season. Ducati have tried to make changes to Bagnaia’s bike to improve his feeling, but have had little success.
Speaking via the Paddock Pass Podcast, journalist Neil Morrison noted that Di Giannantonio is now at the centre of ‘incessant’ questions about his bike spec. But the VR46 rider has now adopted the same approach as Bagnaia, in that he is just focused on riding the machine.
“And interesting just his approach this weekend. I’m not sure if it’s just him becoming completely drained by the incessant probing from journalists on what his bike spec is,” said Morrison.
“Is it a GP25? How much of his bike is a GP24 versus GP25? But he said, essentially, his approach now is to walk into the garage, see the Ducati is written on the fuel tank and to think: ‘Right, OK, that’s all I need to know.
“You just do what you do, engineers, and I’ll get on it and twist the throttle’. And maybe that’s just a tactic to get us [to] stop asking the question.
“It seems as though, at least the impression he’s given us, is that he’s taken an approach which is less about being involved in the minutai of bike setup and it’s just accept that: ‘I’m going to have to ride this thing and get on and do that.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Di Giannantonio from net worth to AS Roma
Why is Francesco Bagnaia struggling so much on the GP25?
Bagnaia has stated that he used the same bike from Motegi at Mandalika and Phillip Island. It begs the question as to why he has gone from dominating in Japan to running nowhere and crashing in the next two events.
The Italian’s bike was seen dramatically shaking down the main straight in Australia as he fell back to 18th in the opening laps of the race. He climbed his way back up to 12th before crashing out in the final laps at Siberia corner.
Bagnaia had a ‘complicated’ issue with braking and corner entry as he could not get the bike turned enough. The 28-year-old was pushing to the limit on the machine, stating that he would rather push hard and crash than finish last.
Ducati have significant work to do in the final three races of the season to give the Italian the feeling back in his bike. But Pol Espargaro thinks Bagnaia problems are deeper than the bike, given how despondent he has been in recent races.
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