Fabio di Giannantonio’s Qatar MotoGP could have ended with out a level, however the VR46 Ducati rider insists he had the tempo to problem for the rostrum – if no more – earlier than “occasions” intervened.
After being pressured to the again of the sector attributable to high-speed contact with Alex Marquez, Diggia then did his greatest to take evasive motion when Jorge Martin crashed instantly in entrance of him mid-race.
Though Martin’s situation was preying on his thoughts, the Italian gave a glimpse of what might need been by lapping sooner than all however race winner Marc Marquez within the closing laps.
“I feel on the finish of the race, for those who see the lap instances, our tempo was a podium tempo,” he stated. “In order that was the aim. Then a number of occasions destroyed our plans.”
As an alternative, he was left with out a single level after crossing the road in sixteenth place.
“Truthfully, I knew that I had this sort of tempo,” he continued. “We labored so effectively with the crew to organize this race… The aim was to struggle with Marc.
“In Italian we are saying, ‘with ifs and buts, we don’t go wherever’, but it surely’s true our tempo was actually robust.”
Regardless of the frustration, Diggia stays fifth on the planet championship, with a podium at COTA.
Nevertheless, his Qatar non-score leaves him 30 factors behind in-form VR46 team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who secured a double rostrum in Lusail.
di Giannantonio insists the interior rivalry is motivating.
“It helps quite a bit to have a robust team-mate,” di Giannantonio stated. “You may examine quite a bit from [the other side of the garage]… you may be taught some secrets and techniques. And for positive he can do the identical from me, once I go a bit sooner.
“On monitor, whoever is your rival is the rider to beat. So for me, it doesn’t change a lot.”
Each VR46 riders are aiming excessive at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, the place the crew scored its solely podium of 2024 with Marco Bezzecchi.
di Giannantonio is a former Moto2 winner on the Andalusian circuit and completed seventh there final season.
“Jerez is a really tiny monitor in comparison with the 4 earlier ones,” he stated. “It’s very technical, and we’ll have the ability to perceive if the setup we tried within the final races might be constructive.
“Will probably be an excellent weekend. I count on to see many European followers – they may deliver a whole lot of power. It’s essential to proceed having the pace we confirmed within the earlier weekends.
“I’m positive we are able to struggle once more for the highest positions.”
Straight after the race weekend, di Giannantonio is predicted to affix fellow GP25 riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia in evaluating new improvement components on the Monday check.
