Fabio di Giannantonio finished fourth in Saturday’s MotoGP Sprint at Misano after occupying a podium position during the first half of the race. Jorge Martin later passed him, leaving the VR46 Ducati rider to focus on the performance limits of his package and the championship situation ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Front-end confidence remains the focus

Di Giannantonio said he had extracted the maximum from the Ducati during the Sprint. He also believed he could have qualified better after being 1.5 tenths faster shortly before crashing. During the race, he reported that he was consistently operating at the limit of the Ducati’s front end and identified improving the front as a key technical objective.

His comparison with Aprilia was specific to Misano rather than a claim about overall performance across every circuit. He said the Aprilia riders and motorcycles had an advantage over his package, with the RS-GP particularly strong through the track’s fast corners, including Curvone. In his description, Aprilia could use more trail braking on corner entry, while attempting the same technique on the Ducati risked losing the front.

To manage the Ducati’s behaviour, Di Giannantonio said he was using a more supermotard-style riding approach, with greater sideways angles in corners. That adaptation describes his riding technique; the rider nevertheless pointed to the front of the Ducati as an area requiring improvement.

Championship picture remains open before Sunday

Di Giannantonio entered Sunday’s Grand Prix fourth in the world championship, 49 points behind leader Jorge Martin. He said he had lost one point to the leader after the Sprint, while stressing that the championship mathematics had not eliminated him from contention.

He regarded Aprilia as the main title contender and said Marc Marquez could not be discounted. Di Giannantonio credited Marquez with an exceptional performance and said Marquez’s development work appeared stronger than the VR46 effort, allowing him to make the Ducati competitive with Aprilia at Misano.