MotoGP | He says: “Competitions like this give me strength, now I want to fight with Pecco!”

Race after race, weekend after weekend, Fabio Di Giannantonio shows great progress and is the author of solid races. The Dutch Grand Prix did not make the difference, on the contrary. The Roman fought for third position for most of the race, only giving in to the temperature of the front tire, which forced him to slow down the pace. Fifth at the checkered flag, he then moved to fourth position with the sanction to Marc Marquez (precisely for the tire pressure) and the Assen result is the best result of the season for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 standard-bearer.

“I’m really happy, we’re working really hard,” he begins with a big smile to the press microphones. “We were able to fight for the podium and to be the best GP23. Doing races like this is priceless! With the bike and the package we have, we’re doing the best we can and I’m having a lot of fun. I’m doing great races and I’m also growing as a rider. I’m improving a lot in all areas, in the body to body, in the pace, in managing the tires and also in the flying lap. I’m becoming really strong, even today is a demonstration that we’re becoming really strong.”

Currently, with the exception of Marc Marquez, Say he is the rider who best interprets the Desmosedici GP23. A bike that initially was not particularly easy even for the factory team last year, in the hands of the Roman has become a fearsome weapon. In the Assen race it was impossible to try to stay with the GP24 #1 of Pecco Bagnaia, but Di Giannantonio fought like a lion confirming that he feels at ease with this Ducati.

“I have to be proud of the guys on the team and also of myself for the races I’m doing. I always say that I am a rider who, in terms of style, brings speed into corners and this bike spontaneously brings a lot of speed into corners. It’s not an aid for going fast, because it makes you take different lines. But in my case it’s not a huge problem, because I’m a rider who has the characteristic of the motorbike. Sometimes I need a little more turning, but in the end I can do it like that,” reveals Diggia.

There’s still one step missing: the podium. In Holland he grazed it, he smelled it, but he remained at his feet: “I believed in the podium until I felt the front closing in the fast. Here with the wind the front tire cools easily. It’s a shame that at a certain point in the race I had to reduce my speed because the temperature of the front tire cooled down a bit and it was closing in on me.”

“When it’s like that, you have to be careful, so I let the rivals pass behind me, but the fight was there and I was fighting. Then I touched Marc at Turn 6 and that was kind of the end of my race because I was pushing so hard to recover, but it was too late. I wanted to push and beat the group on pace, because when I get in front and push it’s difficult for me to make mistakes. In fact I was succeeding, but when I felt two or three movements, I thought it was better to let the others pass and let the tire warm up. I think it was the right choice, otherwise I wouldn’t have reached the end,” explains the VR46 standard-bearer.

Di Giannantonio is the most talked about man on the rider market at the moment, and rightly so, given the solidity shown in this first part of the season. The Roman has several options on the table and has the possibility to choose, also thanks to performances like the one on Sunday, in which he added another piece to his business card: “Races like these give me the strength to say that I am really strong and I am working well to try to be even stronger. I want to fight with the riders in front, Bagnaia, Martin, Bastianini. The goal is to win many races and become world champion, so I am simply on my way”.