Fabio di Giannantonio is hoping a breakthrough inside the VR46 Racing Team can help him end his recent MotoGP struggles when the championship heads to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix on September 13.
The Italian enjoyed an impressive start to the season and quickly established himself as one of Ducati’s strongest riders. Across the opening six rounds, he averaged 19.3 points per weekend and emerged as a genuine dark horse in the championship.
However, his form has since dropped. Over the following seven race weekends, his average points haul fell to 13.1, leaving the VR46 rider searching for answers as the competition at the front became increasingly intense.
The problems were particularly clear at the Aragon Grand Prix, which Di Giannantonio described as his worst weekend of the season.
He struggled to find a comfortable feeling with the Ducati from the opening day and was unable to make the bike perform as expected. His difficulties continued into the sprint, where rear-end instability contributed to a crash.
VR46 made several changes ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, but the improvements were not enough to put Di Giannantonio back into contention for the podium. He eventually finished seventh, even trailing Gresini Ducati rider Fermin Aldeguer.
Despite the disappointing result, there is now renewed optimism within the VR46 garage.
Di Giannantonio says the team has finally identified the reasons behind its recent loss of performance. He has chosen not to reveal the technical details, but believes finding the cause is an important step towards recovering the speed that made VR46 so competitive earlier in the season.
The timing could hardly be better, with the team now heading to its home circuit at Misano.
Source: Sportrik
Di Giannantonio remains fourth in the championship, but his position has come under increasing pressure. He is now 48 points behind leader Jorge Martin, while his advantage over Marc Marquez has completely disappeared.
Just three rounds ago, Di Giannantonio held a 24-point lead over the factory Ducati rider. Marquez has since turned the situation around and now sits 29 points ahead, representing a 54-point swing in only three weekends.
That rapid change underlines just how quickly the MotoGP standings can shift.
For Di Giannantonio, the immediate priority is not the championship mathematics but getting his Ducati back to the level he knows it can reach.
Misano offers an ideal opportunity. The Italian has confidence in the VR46 package when the team manages to put together a clean weekend, even if some circuits have proved more difficult for him than others.
Austria, for example, has traditionally been a challenging venue for him. Yet VR46 has shown this season that it can find competitive pace even at tracks that do not naturally suit its bike or riders.
“When the weekend is smooth, the bike works very well,” Di Giannantonio said. “I'm always quite fast, so I think we have a good chance of competing.”
That confidence could be crucial as VR46 looks to turn its recent diagnosis into results.
With the team now understanding what has been holding it back, Di Giannantonio will be hoping the solution arrives at exactly the right time. A strong performance at Misano would not only give him a boost in the championship, but could also confirm that VR46 has finally found its way out of its recent slump.
