DI GIANNANTONIO RECOVERS AFTER FP1 CRASH IN ARAGON

Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Aragon weekend began with an early scare in Friday morning practice. The VR46 rider crashed at the start of FP1 on his Ducati Desmosedici, though he was able to finish the session and ended the hour in eighth place.

Speaking after the incident, Di Giannantonio said the day had not started as he wanted: “The day didn’t begin optimally – I crashed in the second lap of FP1 this morning, which wasn’t the ideal start to the weekend.” He added that the priority now was understanding what led to the fall: “We still have to understand what happened, but it will be valuable information for the future; in this situation we can also see the positive.”

With an alternative bike available, the picture improved later in the day. Di Giannantonio reported that once he got onto his replacement machine, his confidence returned. In the afternoon qualifying session, he finished fourth, just three tenths of a second behind Marco Bezzecchi on the Aprilia.

“The moment I got on my bike in the afternoon, the feeling was back – I could find my rhythm and ride my lines,” Di Giannantonio said. He also highlighted that the pace and execution in the time-attack phase were strong: “We had good speed and a good time-attack, so overall the day was positive.”

He noted how tight the front group looked, with the top three separated by only 0.038 seconds. “We saw that the competitors are ready and competitive, so our goal, as always, will be to do our best to stay close to them,” he said.