Marco Bezzecchi
Fabio Di Giannantonio thinks Marc Marquez has suffered an ‘unlucky’ start to the 2026 MotoGP season during his assessment of the best Ducati rider after the first four rounds of the new term.
Having already claimed two pole positions and two podium finishes from the first four rounds of the 2026 MotoGP campaign, Fabio Di Giannantonio has enjoyed the best start to a new season of his career in the premier class.
The Italian rider currently sits third in the riders’ standings, with his points haul of 71 also putting him on the pedestal for the leading Ducati man in the championship. Despite that, Di Giannantonio is still 30 points off Marco Bezzecchi’s benchmark tally.
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Ahead of the recently concluded Spanish GP, Di Giannantonio called out Ducati for favouring Marc Marquez during the development of the factory bikes, highlighting the direction as the reason for their demise in comparison to the high-flying Aprilia factory team.
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Fabio Di Giannantonio thinks Marc Marquez has been ‘unlucky’ in 2026 assessment of Ducati’s riders
Still, the VR46 star is under the impression that his rival, Marquez, has been rather unlucky during the opening rounds of the 2026 term.
During his media duties with the press on Sunday evening in Jerez, Di Giannantonio was asked for his thoughts on the current pecking order of Ducati’s six-man-strong line-up.
Given his status as the leading rider in the championship standings for Borgo Panigale, the Italian could be forgiven for thinking he is currently the best rider that the Italian constructor has in their stable.
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However, that is far from his own assessments. Speaking via Motosprint, Di Giannantonio said, “Me, the best Ducati rider? I disagree. Marc Marquez is very fast like me, but unlucky here and there.
“Alex [Marquez] is coming back. I’m doing a good job, but I don’t like this title of best Ducati rider. I’m Fabio with the VR46 team: together we’re doing a great job. We’re third, but there are still a lot of races left.”
Following a difficult start to the season, Alex Marquez finally broke Ducati’s duck by securing their first win of 2026 in the Spanish GP.
It also marked the first time that the Gresini rider had secured back-to-back wins at a circuit, following his maiden premier class Grand Prix victory at Jerez last year.
Fabio Di Giannantonio also detailed where he needs to ‘improve’ with the Ducati GP26
Di Giannantonio also identified some areas in which he feels like he still needs to improve in order to further close the gap to the Aprilia duo ahead of him.
He identified his feel for the front end as a main area of improvement, while also noting that engineers at Borgo Panigale are currently looking into a ‘solution’ for him.
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“The front end is the most important aspect for a rider,” Di Giannantonio disclosed. “It’s the basis for braking and corner entry, and the line is the approach to exiting. We’ve improved this year, we’ve made a step forward, but we’re still lacking something compared to our rivals.
“I was getting closer to Marco Bezzecchi, because he made a couple of mistakes. But I asked a lot of the front end, and I was taking a lot of risks.
“As I said, I need to improve the front end’s effectiveness so I can brake hard on corner entry and feel the bike more. And not only that: my weak point is the start. We’re talking to Ducati, looking for a solution for me.”
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