LOW TOP SPEED HELD DI GIANNANTONIO BACK IN SEPANG SPRINT

Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fifth in the 10-lap MotoGP Sprint at Sepang, five seconds behind the winner, after qualifying sixth. The VR46 rider said he was pleased with how the bike felt, but hinted that an unspecified issue had stopped him from showing his full potential.

“I’m really happy about the feeling with the bike, honestly,” he said. “In the race, I understood that the feeling was really good and the bike is doing what it has to do. So, we have a really great bike.” He added that “other things” were holding him back and, when asked to explain, said: “If you look at the results, the analysis, you can easily see. But I cannot say.”

VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto has since identified the main concern as a lack of top speed. Di Giannantonio was losing around 7-8km/h on the straights, a significant deficit at Sepang, where the long main straight makes passing difficult. “We are working a lot with Ducati, but at the moment we don’t know why,” Nieto said, noting that the engines were the same as those used by the other bikes. He said possible causes included aerodynamics, rider position or the engine, but the team had yet to establish the reason.

Nieto said the speed deficit had also been apparent in Australia, though the circuit’s layout made it less pronounced. With Qatar also expected to put a premium on straight-line speed, he said the team needed to find a solution. Di Giannantonio finished ninth in Sunday morning’s warm-up.

Di Giannantonio believes the Marquez brothers still have an edge on race pace. He said Alex Marquez’s race had been a disappointment, while Marc Marquez appeared not to have taken risks. Even so, the Italian felt VR46 could compete with the riders ahead: “I think we can be part of the game and try to challenge the other guys in front and try to be close to them.”

The track surface remained another concern. Di Giannantonio had likened Sepang’s condition to motocross on Friday, citing holes and loose stones, and said it had not improved by Sprint day. “You get a lot of small stones on you,” he told Sky Sport Italy. “They scratched it but it is not a [smooth] surface, there is a lot of gravel.”

He is due to start Sunday’s Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, before the MotoGP paddock travels to Lusail for the rescheduled Qatar Grand Prix.