Di Giannantonio takes a jab after setting a record time in Qatar: “Did you see Lecuona?”

The Roman rider topped Friday’s practice sessions at Lusail, but he still isn’t 100% satisfied: something is leaving him a little puzzled. Nieto also weighs in on the engine issue.

Qatar seems to suit Fabio Di Giannantonio, who won his first MotoGP race there and topped the standings in yesterday’s Practice at Lusail with a record time. He clocked the third-fastest time in FP1, then raised his game in the afternoon session and left everyone behind. His goal now is to keep improving ahead of qualifying and the weekend’s races as he aims to return to the podium.

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing rider was far from satisfied with his pace in the first free practice session, but he and his team managed to turn things around: "It was an up-and-down day - reportsMotosan - terrible at the start and fantastic at the end. In the morning, we were two seconds off the pace and then, with just a few changes, we managed to improve. The feeling under braking and on corner entry was good again, and I was able to show my potential. We did a good job and need to maintain this level for the rest of the weekend".

Di Giannantonio also had a criticism to make after a spell in which he failed to achieve the results he wanted: "My only regret is that we could have worked better at the last few Grands Prix and made these changes sooner. I’m not the one who sits at the computer and analyses the data, but something wasn’t going right at the last few Grands Prix".

The Roman rider also joked about top speed, given that his Ducati Desmosedici GP26 is around 5–6 km/h slower than Iker Lecuona’s, with Lecuona standing in for Alex Marquez in Qatar: "Have you seen Iker?".

On Thursday, Diggia said his Ducati was around 10 km/h slower than the others, a claim that inevitably sparked debate. Pablo Nieto addressed the issue in an interview with the official MotoGP channels during free practice at Lusail: "We’re working on it a lot - reports Crash.net - because 10 km/h in MotoGP is a lot. We’re talking about around 30 horsepower, more or less. So that’s too much. We’re working with Ducati, and we know they’re focusing heavily on this situation because it’s something unusual. We may also be looking at aerodynamic aspects and the rider’s position: it could be down to many factors. We don’t know why, but we’re having a lot of problems with top speed".

The VR46 team manager did not offer a precise explanation for why Di Giannantonio was not matching his colleagues’ top speed, but reiterated that Ducati was working hard to identify the cause and find a solution: "We have the biggest problem when we shift into fifth and sixth gear. For the rest, more or less, we can manage the situation, but here it’s tough in the final part of the straight. Ducati is working hard on this because it’s really important for us, and for Ducati too, to understand everything".

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