Fabio di Giannantonio is on the verge of clinching a deal to salvage his MotoGP career as Luca Marini’s replacement at VR46 Ducati next season.
But with Marini’s own Repsol Honda move, in place of Marc Marquez, still to be confirmed, di Giannantonio arrived for the Valencia season finale saying only that he “working on something cool” and is ready to ride at Tuesday’s test.
“Let’s say that I came here with a helmet and a suit to try to test on Tuesday!” he smiled. “We are working on something cool, we have good chances to test and a little more chance to be on the grid next year. We’ll try hard.”
But when quizzed on VR46 looking like his only remaining MotoGP opportunity, di Giannantonio lavished praise on Valentino Rossi’s team.
“It seems that that [VR46] bike is the only bike available, once Luca decides to make the announcement!” he said, adding somewhat unconvincingly: “Joking obviously…
“Let’s say for sure it’s a great team. Their work behind the scenes is amazing. What they do with the Academy and all the staff. They joined from Moto3 to Moto2 and MotoGP, and they’ve always been super good in every class.
“It’s a really good team and it would be an amazing experience, challenge, for me. And I think an amazingly opportunity to learn a lot of things.”
The 25-year-old arrives at the season finale still basking in the glory on last Sunday’s fairytale debut win in Qatar.
“It was fantastic. I can say that I watched the race back 20-25 times! It was super special,” he said.
Di Giannantonio also appreciated the words of Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti, who called it “unacceptable” that Diggia did not have a 2024 ride in place in the aftermath of his win.
“I was super proud about the words of Paolo. He has been so good with me,” di Giannantonio said.
Keyword: Valencia MotoGP: Fabio Di Giannantonio: VR46 move “would be an amazing experience…”