Explained: Ducati engine decision has knock-on effect for Fabio di Giannantonio
Fabio di Giannantonio engine information clarified
The last time Ducati’s official team took a last-minute step back in MotoGP engine design, for the 2022 season, the other factory-spec riders continued with the new engine.
While Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller ran a mix of GP21 and GP22 engine parts that year, Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco plus VR46’s Luca Marini kept the full GP22 engine.
But that also made data sharing more complicated.
“It is very difficult for us to find a base, sometimes we go the way of Pecco or Jack but then we have another bike,” Martin said during the 2022 season, his only winless year as a MotoGP rider.
“We are a bit alone in that aspect. Having different specs of bike is not easy. I’m still struggling with it.”
But that factory engine ‘split’ will not be repeated this year, with Fabio di Giannantonio.
In the aftermath of Marc Marquez and Bagnaia choosing the GP24 engine, due to braking issues with the new GP25 powerplant, Ducati and VR46 have confirmed to Crash.net that di Giannantonio will join them on the older engine.
But while Marquez and Bagnaia also look set to homologate the GP24 fairing and start the year on the older chassis it's possible third factory-spec rider di Giannantonio could opt for some newer parts.
Diggia was said to have liked the 2025 chassis during day one of the Sepang test, before a freak accident - when a wheelie went wrong - left him with a fractured left collarbone and absent from the Buriram test.
As such, the Italian might be happy to help Ducati race develop its new chassis, which is not part of the homologation rules and can be changed at any time.
Aero upgrades are still limited to one per season, while the engine spec for Ducati, Aprilia and KTM will be frozen for the next two years, ahead of the introduction of 850cc machines in 2027.
By then, the GP24 engine, which finished first and second in the world championship with Martin and Bagnaia last year, will have raced for three successive seasons.
While Bagnaia now starts this year's world championship on a very similar package to 2024, Marquez and di Giannantonio still have a ‘new bike’ after spending last season on the satellite spec GP23.
This year's 'satellite spec' riders, Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer at Gresini plus Franco Morbidelli at VR46, will also race the GP24. They will thus have near identical machinery to the factory trio at the start of the year, until upgrades arrive for the official riders.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
