The fight for the world title between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin is one of the hot topics in Lusail, but the drivers’ market is still at the forefront. With Luca Marini seeming ever closer to signing with Honda and Fermin Aldeguer ready to move to MotoGP with Mooney VR46, Fabio Di Giannantonio feels backed into a corner. The Roman will leave the Gresini team at the end of this season to make room for Marc Marquez, but it seems that he cannot find space in the premier class.
“No, I don’t have any particular news,” he begins Diggia at the usual meeting with the press, who awaits news on his future. “Now there are those two saddles in MotoGP that are still free, but I think that in a few hours we will know everything. I asked not to know anything until Sunday, because I just want to think about the races. It just became too stressful. I think we’ll know everything on Sunday and when you ask the question again in Valencia, I’ll answer with something concrete, I hope.”
The Gresini standard bearer’s idea is to remain in MotoGP, reiterating the concept he has been carrying forward for weeks now: “I think I deserve to stay”. However, everything suggests that the 2024 grid has no room for him. So, what’s left to do? A return to Moto2 or even a change of championship? The Superbike, for example. However, these are options Diggia he does not contemplate, because his idea is to remain where he is.
“Moto2? At the moment no, it’s not an option and I don’t want it to be,” she replies categorically. “I fully deserve MotoGP, I’m a MotoGP rider and this situation was quite strange. Everything really happened and I’m a little angry. It’s my second year in MotoGP, I have all the results to stay. A Moto2 would be a lose-lose situation for me. Even as a person I don’t think I deserve this. Change championship? That’s not an option either. Stop for a year? Absolutely not, if you stop, stay at home. You have to have a good plan, Moto2 and Superbike are not a good plan for me. I am 25 years old and it is not logical for me to go back to the intermediate class or go to the derviates. This age is perfect for maturing and growing in MotoGP.”
Another plan, or at least the only way to stay in MotoGP, is to take on the role of reserve rider or tester for a brand. It is clearly not the first choice of the rider from Rome, but if it were to be the only viable path, he does not underestimate taking it: “Let’s say that at the moment it is not a real option that I have. But obviously we have to do something to be on the grid. If not for next year, for 2025. After all, I am still a MotoGP rider and the results I have achieved will remain forever. If I deserve it today, I will also deserve it next year and in 2025. Let’s try to find the best way to stay and if it’s not next year, at least in two.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Fabio Di Giannantonio, Gresini Racing
“Let’s say I don’t like this situation. Being a tester is also an option, but it’s not something I really enjoy. Because I think I deserve to stay. But if this has to be the situation, it is certainly an option because we have seen that this sport is dangerous. There are many races, many accidents. You can have a sort of card to play, if you play a match as a substitute, maybe you do a good job and shine for the future. This would be better than racing in another championship,” he continues.
Fabio Di Giannantonio’s 2023 has been very troubled, from the change of crew chief that forced him to start from scratch to the transfer maneuvers that began in September and which still see him as the protagonist. There were contacts with Honda and, when it seemed done, Luca Marini’s name came up. The Mooney VR46 hypothesis could have been feared, but even in this case Valentino Rossi’s team seems to want to fish elsewhere. What’s left to Diggia?
“It was a domino effect, Marc’s choice was surprising for everyone, I think,” declares the Gresini rider. “He left Honda after 11 years, they interrupted the most successful relationship in history and he will race in a private team, the one where I am, in my place. So definitely this was the first domino. Then there was the place in Honda, we were very close, but now it seems they want another rider. Now the last place is in VR46, which for me would be fantastic because I have a lot of respect for them and for what the Academy is doing. But here too it seems they want another driver, and this is the third domino. The places ran out, so it certainly all started with Marc and it was like a snowball that got bigger and bigger.”
Di Giannantonio still has two weekends left to play with Fausto Gresini’s team before leaving Ducati. What will happen in the future? Diggia he doesn’t know, but he is certain of one thing. He wants to leave leaving a good memory: “This year has been tough, even at home we talked with friends, family… I said that if this is to be my last year in MotoGP, I have to end it with a podium. I did it! But now there are two more races, so now my goal is to win. Maybe I won’t succeed, but I will definitely give everything.
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