MotoGP | Diggia: “Without Sprint data, it's difficult to prepare”

The start of the season for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team was not as explosive as last year, in which they achieved a victory in the second race. However, the team is defending itself well in a super competitive MotoGP, especially with Fabio Di Giannantonio, who seems to have an excellent adaptation to his new garage.

A technical problem stopped him in the Sprint in Austin, but the Roman puts the American Grand Prix to rest with a smile because in Sunday's race he crossed the finish line in sixth position, right behind the quintet who fought hard for the victory and for the podium.

A complicated first corner forced Diggia to mount a small comeback, arriving at the checkered flag two and a half seconds behind Bagnaia, fifth. However, in the second half of the race, he showed an excellent pace which would most likely have allowed him to compete if he hadn't run into a difficult Turn 1: “So I'm very happy, also because on Sunday morning I wasn't very happy with the feeling, so I finished to the race thinking of giving my best and seeing what could be done. Then actually in the race I felt very good because the start was good, the first race not so much, but I made a couple of overtakes on some pacesetters like Miller and Morbidelli.”

“I had fun,” continues Di Giannantonio talking about his Sunday in Texan. “Then I recovered and I was going very fast, I had a good pace, but it wasn't enough to fight with the leading riders. But we are getting closer and also with the team we are getting to know each other more and more, so I am happy.”

Sunday chases away the difficulties of a Saturday that ended before the checkered flag, when he was forced to retire in the Sprint. The short races are his lucky moment this year, having never seen the finish line in these first three Saturdays of 2024. This represents a further difficulty coefficient which, however, Diggia tried to overcome: “I think I did a total of 5 laps in the three Sprints, so not a great start. But coming from a situation where I don't have data for short races, it's always difficult to prepare a good race with the current level in MotoGP.”

At this start of the season, the Roman seems decidedly more at ease than his teammate. We could say, almost against all predictions, if we look at how Marco Bezzecchi's 2023 began, coming to command the championship and fighting for the world championship until the Asian trip. However, Diggia prefers not to make comparisons with his boxing partner, focusing more on improving himself as a driver, even speaking with Bez.

“I'm focused on trying to be the best Diggia possible”, he firmly maintains when asked if he gets along well with his teammate and if he makes a comparison. “I think the best version of myself is to be able to win races. Honestly, Bez and I talk a lot, we share comments. Let's work together. Thinking about beating my teammate is not my priority at the moment.”