Di Giannantonio, the pilot who believes “that anything is possible”

In the space of a year, Fabio Di Giannantonio has seen his status change completely on the MotoGP grid. Having come close to unemployment at the end of 2023 when his helm at Gresini was taken by Marc Márquez at a very advanced stage of the constitution of the 2024 chessboard, the Italian finally benefited from a last minute rescue which would lead him very far away.

Last season may have proved difficult for the riders benefiting from the oldest model of the Ducati, Di Giannantonio did well. Certainly far from the results of the #93, the Roman did better than his teammate Marco Bezzecchi, struggled throughout the year with the GP23, and was only overtaken in the championship by Álex Márquez with his end-of-season withdrawals.

His performances as well as his work attitude have made Di Giannantonio one of the assets on which Ducati will now focus. After the reorganization of the Desmosedici squadron initiated by the departure of Pramac to Yamaha and the reduction of the official Italian motorcycles, it is he who emerges as the big winner since by retaining his place at VR46, he will be the only one this year to have the same bike as the factory team riders.

“My journey is quite particular”, admitted the Italian rider at the end of last year, in an interview given to the official MotoGP website. “When I was young, I never had a plan B in mind. I always wanted to be a MotoGP rider. And when I arrived here, I always believed in myself and in the work we were doing .I always believed that I could achieve it. It's something that I understood that I had in my life, I believe very strongly in things, I like to dream and try to achieve these dreams. Finally, more than a dream it is a goal that I like to fixate and reach.”

“That’s what we did last year [en 2023, ndlr] : at the moment when I practically no longer had any handlebars, we asked ourselves what the objective was and it was for me to progress as a pilot. So I tried to improve as much as possible as a driver and do my best. Once that was done, we asked ourselves what the next goal was and that was to try and find a handlebar and we got it, even though it was really last minute. Then the goal for the 2024 season was to be consistent and reach a high level in every race, and we did that.”

“I love setting goals and working to achieve them, because I truly believe that anything is possible. It's not something you read in books, that's true. When you see someone to do extraordinary things, it's a person like you, with two arms and two legs; it's just a person who set a goal, who worked for it day and night, obsessively, and who achieved it; made it possible. And if he did it, you can do it. “That's what I think, too, and I've tried to apply that mentality to racing.”

A status and a contract that will ease the pressure

Di Giannantonio's other big victory is having signed a two-year contract which now allows him to see the highly anticipated deadline of 2027, i.e. until the end of the current technical regulations. and most agreements between drivers and teams.

“I'm totally proud of what we've accomplished. For the first time in my career, I have a two-year contract with a super strong bike, with a strong team, which remains the same, and that makes a difference huge. We don't think about it often but when we have the time to improve and try things, we can make mistakes, but when we make mistakes we can learn and improve. I could never make mistakes, I could never try things and that makes a big difference when you're trying to be the best.”

“Take a small example: Jorge Martín he fell a lot in his first season, but these falls built the rider that he is today and who is world champion. Because with these falls, he had the time to to try things, to make mistakes, to get back on the bike without being under pressure of any kind. But when you have a one-year contract and something like six months to show your potential, knowing that if you. don't show it, you're out there, you don't have time to make mistakes and try things. So for my progression as a person and as a driver, it's a huge step.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio will drive a GP25 for VR46 this season.

Photo de : Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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With this new place in the Ducati group, Fabio Di Giannantonio says he is eager to start working differently this year, expecting to now have weight in the development of the bike. A role that he has never had since his arrival in MotoGP, having always only driven models from previous seasons within satellite teams.

“I think they [Ducati] will no longer listen to me from Sepang because [jusqu’à présent] “All my info was based on the 2023 bike. They already told me the 2024 bike had what I asked for.” he indicated on the sidelines of the first test of the offseason, which he missed because he was convalescing, “so I think that from Sepang they will start to follow me more in terms of the direction to take with the bike.”

“They are also quite happy with the way I say things. My chief mechanics as well as Gigi [Dall’Igna] have always said that I was quite precise in my comments, so that makes me proud and it also means that I can really help Ducati to progress in certain areas.