MotoGP rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio is ready to start “another chapter” after his difficult 2022 season – but, rather than any sort of drastic career move on his part, this simply reflects changes ahead of his sophomore campaign, including the arrival of a championship-winning crew chief.
Though a polesitter at Mugello, Di Giannantonio has otherwise had a season largely devoid of highlights, only finishing once in the top 10 and being cut well adrift of the rest of the Ducati contingent.
That’s a situation that’s been made even worse in particular by the huge success on display on the other side of the Gresini garage, too, with sophomore team-mate Enea Bastianini taking four wins and fighting this weekend at Valencia for a top-three position in the overall championship standings, a situation that’s unlikely to have made Di Giannantonio’s mood much better despite admittedly different pre-season goals for the pair.
And following a particularly tough flyaway trip, in which he failed to score a single point in the series’ four overseas races, culminating in a crash at Sepang two weeks’ ago, the eloquent 24-year-old took to social media on his way home from the Asian rounds to lay bare his feelings about the year so far.
“The fact is that I’ve had less and less fun on the bike this season,” he wrote. “I’ve had less fun and the results haven’t come. In all this, what have I learnt?
“I’ve learnt that the level in MotoGP is very high and you don’t leave anything to chance, and I think that’s what the game is all about… work, hard, work really hard, plan, study, analyse, believe, trust, think about everything, don’t neglect any detail, have OBSESSION. Yes, because in the end the question is… do you have the OBSESSION? Because only by answering yes can you put yourself up against the greatest in the sport.
“I’m in my thoughts at the airport, in a fortnight there’s Valencia, a race that I’ll face with the mentality to do well, very well, as I’ve always done. Then another chapter opens, who knows?”
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Those comments led some to even suggest that Di Giannantonio was perhaps contemplating stepping down from the championship for next year (something not helped by a post soon after showing him experimenting with a rally car).
However, speaking exclusively to The Race ahead of that final race this weekend at Valencia, the Italian said that while he’s very much looking forward to some time away to relax and reset his head after a tough year, he’s still motivated for his MotoGP future.
“In the end, yes, unfortunately,” he admitted when asked if the struggle in the overseas races had come as a surprise, “because we made some mistakes. You are a journalist, so you know that I have to say ‘we’ every time, because we are a team. We made some mistakes, and we made it harder, but it is what it is in the end so let’s see.
“I’m definitely ready [for the year to end], because it’s been tough. I expected a lot from myself, from my results. We worked so hard all over the year at home and especially at the races to be better and better and better – but it never came. There were some moments during the year, but not really a consistent improvement.
“Step by step the ‘why’ was coming to an end, becoming more a ‘because,’ and I think I know now the way. Next year we will have some changes in my garage, and I think it will be a good challenge.”
The big change for Di Giannantonio is that he inherits the highly experienced man who headed up Joan Mir’s 2020 world title, Frankie Carchedi.
Coming as one of the most highly-regarded engineers in the paddock, Carchedi brings a welcome change to Di Giannantonio’s box as well as some much-needed experience after a year in which he was guided by a rookie crew chief and rookie data engineer.
“I really can’t wait to ride on Tuesday,” Di Giannantonio enthused about the one-day post-season test next week. “The new bike with my new crew chief. I can’t wait to start the process, and then building from that all winter to start a new chapter.
“In Moto2 last year, with the same crew, it was tough at the end, and this year has been even tougher. We are against the best riders in the world and we need a change. Now we have it, so let’s see what happens.
“Honestly I can’t wait to join his way of work because he’s a super experienced guy in MotoGP. He’s also from England, so I think this could also be a different approach to racing. I’m interested in this because I’ve always had Italian crews. I can’t wait to see this new challenge, and I’m super curious about it.”
