Fabio Di Giannantonio Looks Forward To Huge Opportunity On Ducati MotoGP Bike With VR46

Saajan Jogia | Jan 1, 2025

Apr 14, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Fabio di Giannantonio (49) of Italy and Pertamina Enduro VR46 rides in warmups before the start of the MotoGP Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Fabio Di Giannantonio is looking forward to the 2025 MotoGP season with VR46, the only satellite team to receive Ducati's highly anticipated GP25 Desmosedici bike. The other two GP25s will be ridden by factory Ducati's 2025 riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

Di Giannantonio emerged as the second-best GP23 rider behind Marquez for much of the year and managed to outperform his VR46 teammate Marco Bezzecchi, despite missing the final two rounds of the 2024 season due to a shoulder surgery. Looking ahead to 2025, he has avoided setting specific targets and is instead focused on enjoying the season. Speaking to GPOne, he said:

“It's a beautiful opportunity, that's how it is.

“This season on the GP25 will be a beautiful opportunity to become an even better rider.

“It's a responsibility, it's something I've been looking for all my life, but at the same time we are not the 'reds' today, so in reality we can still 'play'.

“The responsibility of being in an official team is different, there you have to win, so I think that kind of responsibility will be especially felt by Pecco and Marc.

“We can have a lot of fun, try to be the outsiders, we can try to annoy them, and this will also give me the opportunity to learn a lot from them by working on their same level.

“So I don't see any negative aspects, but only a great opportunity.

“I'm sorry I didn't get podiums this year, for the team, I would really like to do well to see them celebrate.

“As I often say, however, I don't want to think about the results already, the goal must be to grow and enjoy the experience: enjoy the GP25, go fast, enjoy this moment for which we have sweated, enjoy the privileged relationship with Ducati, and in the end we will draw a line and see how it went.”

Encouraged by positive feedback from Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who compared the two versions of the Desmosedici after racing the GP23 in Barcelona, and then testing the GP25, Di Giannantonio is eager to begin the next phase of his career at the Sepang test in February. He added:

"I can't wait to try it to personally understand what feeling it will give me. From the amazed comments of those who tried the GP23 again [Pirro], to then get on the GP25 [in the test], I was surprised.

“Above all, I expect not to struggle so much in riding at the pace we have been used to this year. This in itself would already be a significant step forward. It would allow me to optimize my riding style, not having to focus on optimizing the package.

“Obviously I don't take anything for granted, it is still a new bike and there will be a period of adaptation, but I certainly expect to start from an excellent base."