Fabio di Giannantonio faced one of his most difficult weekends of the 2025 MotoGP season at Brno, just a week after a strong performance in Germany. The VR46 Ducati rider, who had led the chase behind Marc Marquez at Sachsenring before crashing, never found his rhythm in the Czech Grand Prix.
Opening with a rain-hit 16th in Friday practice and a 13th-place qualifying result, di Giannantonio’s momentum quickly faded. A clutch issue during Saturday’s Sprint dropped him down the field, and a vague front-end feel led to a crash mid-race while running outside the points.
Sunday’s grand prix brought little reprieve. After slipping to 17th early on, he only gained one position when Enea Bastianini crashed, ultimately crossing the line 24.729s behind winner Marquez.
“Definitely a tough weekend,” he said. “I don’t want to find excuses. My feeling with the bike wasn’t fantastic, but I take full responsibility. The rider is the leader of the team, and I wasn’t precise enough this weekend. We just didn’t have the package to fight.”
Di Giannantonio refused to blame the demanding race schedule or fatigue, despite Brno marking the fourth race in five weekends.
“All the other riders face the same conditions. I simply wasn’t better than them this time.”
He acknowledged that an issue in Saturday’s Sprint—details of which he couldn’t disclose—may have hindered their ability to diagnose the wrong direction they had taken. Still, he insisted the onus was on him to recognize and correct the situation earlier.
While the Czech round marked a clear dip after recent top-six finishes, the Italian remains confident.
“I’m still in good shape mentally and physically. MotoGP requires extreme precision, and we missed that this weekend. But we know what changed since Sachsenring, and we know what to do to reset and restart the season.”
Looking ahead to the summer break, di Giannantonio plans to disconnect and return refreshed for the Red Bull Ring round in August.
“There’s more to life than racing. I want to enjoy time with my girlfriend, visit my grandfather, and come back as the best Diggia possible.”
His VR46 teammate, Franco Morbidelli, missed the Brno weekend due to a shoulder injury. Both riders have now dropped behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi in the world championship standings with ten rounds to go.
