Fabio di Giannantonio believes he and VR46 are on the verge of finding a solution to their recent MotoGP struggles ahead of their home race at Misano this month.
After starting the season as Ducati’s best-performing and most consistent rider, Di Giannantonio has been going through a relatively difficult run of form lately. Having averaged 19.3 points across the opening six rounds, he has added points at an average rate of just 13.1 over the last seven weekends.
The Aragon Grand Prix proved particularly difficult for the Italian, which he described as his worst of the season. After losing time on Friday with a lack of ‘feeling’ on the bike, Di Giannantonio struggled with the rear-end the following day and crashed out of the sprint. Sunday brought renewed hope as VR46 made changes to the bike, but he could only muster a seventh-place finish, behind the returning Fermin Aldeguer on the Gresini Ducati.
While refusing to reveal what exactly went wrong in recent weekends, Di Giannantonio claimed the team finally understands why he has been lacking speed, and is confident of finding a fix in time for the San Marino Grand Prix on 13 September.
“There were a few things that put us in a position where I crashed [in the sprint],” he said.
“This is the second weekend that we are having little things here and there that we must improve.
“But the good thing is that we know exactly what's happening. So, I really hope that we can have a consistent and normal weekend from Misano as we can have another chance to show our speed that we have not been showing since the last two weekends.
He added: “I really hope that we can fix it at Misano. There are major chances that we can fix it.”
With nine rounds still to run, Di Giannantonio sits fourth in the standings, 48 points behind championship leader Jorge Martin.
Until just three races ago, the VR46 rider was comfortably ahead of factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez in the standings, with the pair separated by 24 points after the Dutch GP. However, the reigning world champion has since pulled ahead by 29 points, a 54-point swing in just three weekends
But Di Giannantonio remains confident that he and his team will be able to turn things around and enjoy a strong run to the Valencia finale.
"We salvaged what we could. The only positive thing today is that we're fourth in the championship. We took a few points from poor Ogura, who unfortunately isn't here,” he said.
“Now we're focusing on Misano, where I'm sure we can turn things around. We always have to work on it because there are some things that didn't go well. But obviously, knowing what went wrong helps you a lot in working on it.
"The only truly tough track for me in the championship, and it's always been like that, is Austria. I hope to do better there, but I think we'll struggle a bit. However, it's also true that this year, on many tracks where we've struggled so far, we've managed to be fast."
“Aragon in particular was the only track in the championship where we weren't able to make that breakthrough. So, you have to be confident. In the end, when the weekend is smooth, the bike works very well. I'm always quite fast, so I think we have a good chance of competing. We have to be positive for Misano."
