di Giannantonio: 'VR46 rebuilt my bike from zero, I don't want to say how much it cost!'
VR4꧃6 rebuilt Fabio di Giannantonio’s destroyed Ducati ahead of a seventh-place finish in the Qatar MotoGP.
Seventh place may not sound like much to be pleased about for 2023 Qatar MotoGP winner 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fabio di Giannantonio.
But Lus✤ail was far from a straightforward weekend and the new VR46 rider said he was going home “with a big smile”.
Fast throughout the pre-season, di Giannantonio qualified seventh on the grid, juꦐst 0.058s behind the top GP23 of Gresini successor Marc Marqu🥂ez.
But his Sprint race came to a frighten꧙ing end when he highsided on the third lap, landing heavily on his left foot before narrowly scrambling out of the path of the following riders.
“Luckily, everyb🦄ody saw me,” di Giannantonio said. “But then the bike we🍌nt straight on [into the barrier]. I don't want to say how much it costs for the team to repair!”
The VR46 c𝓡rew worked late into the night to get the bike back into one piece for Sunday's grand prix wherꦬe a limping di Giannantonio was up to sixth place on the opening lap.
“I want to thank so much the team,” di Giannantonio said. “The crash was pretty big for the bike itself, and the bike was OK for the race, so they did an amazing job through thꦿe night to rebuild the bike from zero."
However, an inconsistent braking issue caused the Italian to overstress his front tyre and he spent m💟uch of the 21 laps in eighth place before pas𒆙sing a fading Pedro Acosta in the closing stages.
“It's been not an easy weekend for u💟s. We had the speed, but it has been a bit of a roller coaster,” Diggia ref♌lected.
“In the race, I had some brake issues, the brakes 𝓀were not stable in every braking. So I was trying a little bit to understand how m🦩uch I was braking and this made a snowball effect with the front tyre [wear], which I destroyed quite early.
“But if we make se🐷venth position in a tough race, I ♛think we should be happy because it means we are strong and have great potential this year. It’s also just my first race with this team.
"So iꩵt’s a good start. We should go back home wi⛄th a big smile... Last year I would have signed to start P7!”
di Giannantonio, the big improver of the 2023 campaign, began last se﷽ason just 16th and last in the Portimao Sprint before retiring from the grand prix.
Team-mate Marco Bezzecchi finished 14th in Qatar o𒊎n Sಌunday.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marqu🍸ez’s injury issues.
