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There is also Fabio Di Giannantonio at Barcelona for the first MotoGP winter test. Although still recovering from shoulder surgery sustained in early November, the Rome rider did not want to miss the first opportunity to start laying the groundwork for his 2025 season and see up close the official Desmosedici he will take to the track next year.
"I wanted to surprise the team, but in my opinion, at the same time, it was very important to come to the test, see the new bike and start talking a little bit about next year," Diggia said, motivating his presence in Catalunya: "Even if my crew chief could not come because of an unforeseen event, in my box there is my new electronic guy and all my team and it was important to start chatting with them and see how they work. It could make all the difference in next year's preparation, also because it's different to be on site, walking around the pits and seeing what others are doing, rather than following from television."
There were many new features that the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team rider was able to observe. Starting with his GP25.
"I saw that all the manufacturers are working really hard. This is perhaps the year when there are more new things, even in terms of bikes. I have really seen a lot of changes," he acknowledged, "My bike is a work of art. I think I've never seen such a beautiful Ducati. Yesterday, when they took it apart, how much attention is paid to detail, and compared to the one I rode, it looks like five years of development. I saw that the others are also working a lot: Yamaha has so many bikes in the box; for me Aprilia also made a beautiful bike and I saw that in KTM there are different exhausts, so they must also be working with the new engine they brought already this year with Pol Espargaró."
The competition is fierce, but that's not enough to worry Fabio: "It's normal that there are a lot of manufacturers that are working, but in my opinion Ducati knows what we riders need and the bike they brought is a nice bombshell."
With Di Giannantonio unable to ride, the team is relying on test rider Michele Pirro to conduct the first run-ins.
"I didn't talk much with Michele during the day because he is working. Besides, the team and Ducati don't want me to know too much about the new bike, so I won't have expectations and conditioning when I will get on the bike," he commented, "I will have to have a clear mind, however, I know what they are testing, what they are working on, and more or less also in what areas the new bike will be better."
New bike that already seems to be particularly liked by Marc Marquez.
"He said everything is much easier, but we already knew that the GP23 had limitations. Even Michele, who raced Sunday on that bike, when he got on it for the first time, said it didn't corner and had no grip, and we told him, 'Welcome back to the club.' We already knew that, because it's been like that all season ," the Roman noted. "The GP24 is already a big step up from the GP23, and the GP25 seems to be a little bit better still, so we'll see."
In addition to a new bike, Fabio will also have a new crew chief in 2025. The fourth in four years.
"Changing four chief technicians is not the best thing to do in a career, but I think it's as many as six that I've had in the last five years. In any case, I think my new team will be great. Also because my electronics guy just became World Champion with Martin," he recalled, "I will give a lot of credit to Massimo Branchini, because he was fantastic in Moto2, and he did an incredible job with Morbidelli in MotoGP. I always wanted to work with him. Also, I will have this team for two years, and this will be a big step forward for my career, because it will allow me to compare the work with the previous year's work and understand where to improve. Pecco and Martin are also at this level because they have had the same people and the same bike for many years. Having the same package allows you to work on the details and improve much more than by changing every time."
The 26-year-old then reassured everyone about the condition of his shoulder.
"These days I am much better than last week. The first few days after surgery were pretty tough because I couldn't sleep and let's say I had some level of pain. But now it's fine and even the medical staff has been impressed with my daily progress. I am improving a lot, and in two weeks I will take off the brace, start working a little in the pool, and I will also be able to start with active rehabilitation and moving the shoulder on my own. It's going to be a long winter, but it's going well at the moment," he said, before going into more detail about his schedule leading up to the Sepang test.
"Two months after taking off the brace I can start to really train and, at that point, we will definitely have to test on the bike," he stressed , "We don't have a definite plan for January yet because it's still far away, but the idea is to go step by step and start working with a smaller bike, rather than going straight to Sepang to test a MotoGP bike.
Given the excellent recovery, would it perhaps have been wiser to have surgery earlier?
"If I recover so quickly, I will definitely have some regret about missing the last two races. However, I think the timing was right, because I will have the right amount of time to train and be ready for next season," he replied, "The current plan is obviously to participate in the first official test in Sepang, but I don't think I will be 100 percent physically, because I have lost a lot of muscle mass and it will take a long time to rebuild those muscles and endurance. Therefore, I think we did everything at the right time."
Di Giannantonio then concluded with a comment about the season finale, "From home it was beautiful, because in my opinion they put on a great show and you need some show like this in MotoGP. It was a shame not to be there next to them, but they kept us on our toes a little bit until the last race. It was cool and I enjoyed it!"
