Di Giannantonio admits: Ducati are the second-strongest team, and not just since Silverstone

With fifth place in the Sprint and sixth in the Grand Prix, Fabio Di Giannantonio posted solid results at Silverstone – yet the VR46 Ducati rider still didn’t sound satisfied afterwards. “I made the most of what I thought was possible,” he said after the race. His planned tactics for the 20-lap race only worked out halfway: “I tried to conserve the rear tyre as much as possible for the final stages. I did a good job with the rear tyre, but in doing so I overworked the front tyre.”

‘Diggia’ laments: either the front or rear tyre always suffers

The Italian describes the tyre dilemma which, by his own account, has plagued him all year. “This has been happening in every race since the start of the season. I’ve been saying for a long time that we need to improve our package. It’s a good package, but at the moment our tyre life is too short,” explained the Italian, elaborating: “If we push the front tyre too hard, the front end gives out and our race is over. To get the front end to do what it’s supposed to, we’re putting too much strain on the rear tyre. It’s difficult to manage.”

On Sunday, by his own count, the front end slipped ten to twelve times; the day before in the sprint, it was the other way round: “The front was really good then, but I completely destroyed the rear tyre.”

Aprilia took all three podium places at Silverstone – not a single Ducati rider finished in the top three. This wasn’t the first time that’s happened this year: “At the moment, we’re only the second-strongest team. The number one is Aprilia,” revealed “Diggia”, highlighting the new balance of power in MotoGP after years of Ducati dominance. “We knew Aprilia were strong here, but we saw a big gap.”

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The consistency of their rivals cannot be overlooked: Aprilia has been performing at this level for around a year now, and all four riders are consistently among the frontrunners. “We pop up there now and then, but at the moment we’re a step behind. That’s the truth.”

He refused to accept that this was down to the circuit. Whilst the differences between Aprilia and Ducati had been particularly stark at Silverstone, on other circuits they could be back on a level footing with their rivals. The VR46-Ducati rider is certain that Aprilia has the edge over Ducati.

In the World Championship standings, the Italian remains second among the Ducati riders in fifth place with 199 points – just one point behind Marc Marquez, the highest-placed Ducati rider. The Roman is 41 points behind World Championship leader Jorge Martin. Behind Di Giannantonio, the gap to Raúl Fernández is narrowing to 15 points.

Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Fans

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Raúl Fernández

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Jorge Martin

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Start des Rennens

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Start des Rennens

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Alex Márquez und Pedro Acosta

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Jorge Martin

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Luca Marini

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Marc und Alex Márquez

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Raúl Fernández

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Marc Márquez und Fabio Di Giannantonio

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Moreira und Quartararo

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Raúl Fernández gewinnt das Rennen

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Silverstone-Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Martin, Fernández, Bezzecchi

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Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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