After being taken out by Marc Marquez on the first lap of the Sprint Race, Fabio di Giannantonio tried to make up for it on Sunday by capitalizing on the record-breaking pole position he earned on Saturday morning, but the limitations of his GP26 made themselves felt, forcing him to settle for fourth place.
“I’m happy with the work done with the team. I was the best among the Ducatis, but we need to close the gap because the competition is getting fierce,” he reflected after the Austin round.
Aprilia is giving the Borgo Panigale manufacturer a run for its money, but so is KTM. “The Austrian manufacturer has made great progress. It’s not just Acosta making the difference; here, Bastianini also put in an excellent race, fighting his way back up to sixth place. So, there’s a lot of work to be done on our end. We need to improve the front, bring more speed into the corners, and be able to brake harder. These are our weaknesses at the moment. We rely heavily on the rear, and when it drops, we’re unable to express our speed,” he pointed out.
At one point, Diggia seemed capable of reaching the podium, but that chance soon faded. “When I was fourth, I was gaining a lot in the first sector because our bike is very agile and I was able to push—so much so that I was destroying my hands—but when it comes to making the bike do what I want, it becomes more difficult. The others can brake later, enter the corner under braking, and use the front to turn the bike, whereas we’re much closer to the limit and have to rely on the rear. With new tyres, the bike is perfect, but as I said, as soon as the rear grip starts to fade a bit, it can no longer support the front, and everything becomes more complicated,” he explained.
Certainly, the VR46 Racing rider’s weekend was full of ups and downs, featuring records, pole positions, unexpected events, and difficulties.“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a weekend like this. Beyond the gap to my rivals, though, I’m very happy; I feel in great shape on the bike, I’m fast, and I’m right there with the best Ducati riders from recent seasons. We’re doing a great job with the team; we have good communication, and even though the bike isn’t quite right at the moment, if we keep this up, we can achieve great things. So, there are more positives to take home,” he continued optimistically before addressing the shortcomings of his Desmosedici.
“Our rear is excellent, but we rely on it too much to do everything, and if you don’t handle it properly, you end up not having enough front to push. In the past, we had great races precisely because of our rear control, but now the others have managed to improve their front significantly, so we’ll have to find a way to strengthen corner entry and braking,” concluded the Roman rider.