Di Giannantonio will try to “bother” Marquez and Bagnaia on the Ducati GP25

Fabio Di Giannantonio Says he will try to “bother” mark marquez And francesco bagnaia He will be on the same equipment as the factory Ducati riders when he competes in MotoGP next year.

On the strength of his impressive form aboard the year-old bike in 2024, Di Giannantonio has signed directly with Ducati to ride their latest GP25 on the VR46 next year.

The terms of the deal give him the status that was allowed george martin To win the 2024 MotoGP title with Pramac. However, while Franco Morbidelli The same privilege enjoyed at Pramac this year, Di Giannantonio will now be the only rider outside the official team to receive a factory-spec bike and full technical support from the Borgo Panigale marque.

The Italian hopes this will give him the opportunity to compete with former champions Marquez and Bagnaia in MotoGP next year, but feels there will be less pressure on him to perform at the top level.

“It’s a beautiful opportunity, that’s what it is,” he told GPOne. This season on the GP25 will be a beautiful opportunity to become an even better rider.

“It’s a responsibility, it’s something I’ve been looking for all my life, but at the same time we’re not ‘Reds’ today, so really we can still ‘play’. The responsibility of being in an official team is different, there you have to win, so I think that kind of responsibility will be felt especially by Peko and Marc”.

“We can have a lot of fun, try to be outsiders, we can try to irritate them and it also gives me a chance to learn a lot from them by working on the same level as them. So I don’t see any The downside, but just a great opportunity I’m sorry I didn’t get a podium for the team this year, I would really like to see them celebrate.

“As I often say, however, I don’t want to think about the results in advance, the goal should be to grow and enjoy the experience: enjoy the GP25, go faster, enjoy this moment for which we have worked.” Have sweated, enjoyed the privileged relationship with Ducati, and finally we will draw a line and see how it went!

Di Giannantonio’s MotoGP career looked set to end after 2023 as six-time premier class champion Marquez broke his contract at Honda to replace the Italian at Gresini.

But the announcement coincided with an improvement in the Italian’s form, leading to his first Grand Prix win at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Relieved in VR46 this year, he outperformed his more experienced teammate Marco BezzecchiFinished 10th in the riders’ championship.

But he injured his left shoulder in Austria and was forced to miss the last two races of the year to undergo surgery.

The long recovery period meant he was also absent from the post-season test in Barcelona last month – and thus missed the opportunity to ride the new GP25 prototype.

However, the new bike has received positive feedback from Ducati’s test riders Michel PirroHaving been able to make a direct comparison between the two versions of the Desmosedici following the GP23 race in Barcelona, ​​the 26-year-old is looking forward to starting the next chapter of his career at the Sepang test in February.

He said, “I can’t wait to try it personally to understand what kind of experience it will give me.” , I was surprised.

“Most of all, I hope that this year we will not have so much difficulty riding at the pace we are accustomed to. This in itself will be an important step. This will allow me to adapt to my riding style without having to focus on optimizing the package.

“Obviously I don’t take anything lightly, it’s still a new bike and there will be a period of adaptation, but I certainly expect to start from an excellent base.”